Here’s another Guest Post from Leslie at Heaven’s Overlook. Missed her post on blogging last week? Here it is. You’re welcome. And thanks Leslie!
“Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” ~Psalm 27:14
When I was a little girl I believed in turning to God through kneeling prayers, but I often prayed with moving feet. Still do. I lifted my head from the sieve of my hands, and spent hours climbing the scrub oak in my backyard, where my sentences branched into heaven. I actually believed that the closer I got, the better my chances would be of getting heard. As an only girl surrounded by the thick swell of four brothers, I prayed for a friend, and I waited on the Lord. I grew into patience with my prayers, but I was still too fast-paced for the Lord, and through the years he gently slowed me down so that I could learn how to turn the scattered into the sacred. There were prayers offered in my childbearing years where I pleaded and waited, pleaded and waited. Another set of prayers were threaded with the same words for ten years. I prayed to bring someone into the fold and influence them as I taught writing and literature as a part-time professor where talk of Christ was rarely found. I prayed, and once again, I waited on the Lord.
Fall semester 2006 brought a different slant of light and a full Composition class of incoming freshman at Westminster College. They were ready to embark on their journey to find a place in this world, and I had an entire semester to teach them about the power of words. This is when I first met Sarah. I kept wondering where I had seen her before. How did I know this girl without even reading that first personal essay?
Our journey started to wind in and out of weeks until one day after class Sarah stopped me dead in my tracks to talk about religion. The next thing I knew, I was picking her up in front of the dorms on Sunday morning and our three girls were thrilled to have one more girl on the bench.
I often wondered if Sarah was a friend from heaven and how our lives finally threaded their way back together. How was she so profoundly placed upon my earthly path? Was she the answer to this constant prayer of mine to be able to influence someone for good and teach them about Christ through the testament of my life? For years I listened to people give talks in church stating that we need to bring others into the fold and do missionary work. They made it sound so easy, but while this experience pressed upon my life, there were times of great discouragement as I prayed to help Sarah feel the Savior’s love. And once again, I learned to wait on the Lord.
2007 went by and Sarah still forged through questions and opposition as she slowly placed together her testimony of Jesus Christ. Every piece was beautiful, but not every piece was easy. After a year and a half of attending church with our family, on Valentine’s Day 2008, she walked into my classroom—with the sun streaming behind her, and said, “I am ready to meet with the missionaries.” Sarah’s journey continued with the missionaries until she was baptized three months later.
Our three daughters watched Sarah come into the fold of Jesus Christ, and as a family, we are continuing to watch her grow grace upon grace in her knowledge of Jesus Christ. Her parents are still finding ways to understand her choice to become a member of this church, and we continue to pray that the Lord will grant us the capacities to guide her step by step as she continues to make her way home to heaven. She gave her first talk in a student ward where she spoke with the spirituality that she brought to this earth. She is awaiting her patriarchal blessing, and often talks of temple marriage. The gentleness of angels pressing upon me was something that I longed for ten years of prayers, and I realized that as much as I was waiting on the Lord, He was waiting on me.
People often ask,“What does God do for us?”
If you ever wonder if this is where you really belong and if this gospel is really for you, and if you wonder if it is worth it to go to church every Sunday, it is worth every effort you make no matter what your season. The gospel of Jesus Christ needs your contribution to the light in a much-needed world. We believe not because it is a psychological crutch, but because it is the very thing that will water our souls down and fail us not.
Have you had prayers where you have waited on the Lord? How have you slowly lived into the answers?
My prayers still bookend my days, and I am slowly learning to thread the words together—what will you have me do with the gifts you have given me? What part of the vineyard should I place my feet? I pray with those moving feet and I wait, and once again, he waits for me.
Related posts:
“I lifted my head from the sieve of my hands” THIS is poetic imagery that just helps me see clearly the context of prayer offered in the world, but directed to heaven. I’m learning that the desires of my heart in my twenties and thirties are not manifested in tangible ways, all the time for instant or even slow feedback. Instead, those desires work in me and work in others over time.
This was beautiful. Once again, Segullah astounds me with the words I really need to hear. thank you.
This made me downshift from my usual internet speed-reading mode and and actually think and savor the words. Thanks for that.
I am living in a time of waiting on the Lord. It has been months since I have seen my dreams shattered, everything I have labored so carefully and long over become impossible. I have been asked to love the one who caused it to happen and to wait. It is agony, but it is necessary. I see that. Never before have I had to rely and have faith on the Lord in the way I do now, facing a life with little hope. But as much as I long for an end, I am also grateful for it. Thank you for this post.
Wow. Thank you.
You’re such a beautiful writer Leslie. And thank you for the gentle reminder that some prayers take decades.
Thank you for the post. I’m almost speechless.
Still waiting to grow into it all. Even as some prayers have “resolved” themselves I don’t necessarily understand the answers. An example- We waited five years between child #1 and #2. Now that we have 4 children it seems silly to concern myself about but if prodded I’ll still admit I really don’t know why. On that great judgement day I hope the Lord will do as much explaining as I will.
I’m still trying to wend my way to a prayerful life. Elder Bednar’s recent conference talk was a good start, but I haven’t made much progress in changing myself. This post was a tiny step in showing me how that happens. Thank you Leslie.
I am not a patient waiter at all. I will generally find my way around to the “The Lord knows what he’s doing” and wait to see what he trying to accomplish all the while praying that I will be guided in how I might help.
But at times when things seem clear and possibly just not moving as fast as I’d like or a potential roadblock appears it is harder to remember that he knows what he’s doing. This week has been one of those weeks. But as I did turn to him I have found constant reminders that he is aware of me, to be patient and it will all work out. One way or another.
I lack the words to adequately express how much your last paragraph means to me. Thank you for writing and sharing this.
some prayers take decades.
Yup. I will someday write about this, because the decade is a significant time span in my experiences with waiting on the Lord.
I keep thinking about that when I count how many years I have had health issues. Only six.
Patience, waiting on the Lord is hard faith-stretching work.
Thanks for this post.
Beautiful post Leslie. Thank you.