"Wait First."

Playing some sort of card game that's vaguely similar to Go Fish, the little girl I babysit says in response to me trying to pick up a card, "No. You have to wait first."

 She then proceeded to show me what to do because I sure didn't know the ropes of this game she had made up. I smiled and played along, thinking all the while how God can speak through the lives of these precious children.

 You have to wait first.

 Not go and do your own thing, watch as it falls apart, and then wait impatiently a little longer until you can go and do it on your own again.

 Wait first.

 I catch myself doing exactly the opposite so often. I'm happy, and doesn't that make God happy? This makes me happier than He has been lately, anyways. But then *gasp*, the unthinkable happens. Whatever or whoever I thought was keeping me happy is suddenly gone and there I am, left with nothing.

 My beautiful, broken beloved. Wait on Me first.

 What would happen if we started listening to Him? If we read His words and actually lived as if they were true?  Words like these that say, "It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

 What if we truly believed soul-deep that the Lord God is better than any love we may find?


 Suddenly, waiting on God ceases to be a burden. Waiting on God no longer ends when we get what "we want", it continues on until we can joyfully proclaim, "Behold, this is our God. We have waited for Him."

 When we wait first on God, we are in submission to Him completely. We are trusting He will fill us and believing He is better than our plans for our life. Waiting first on God requires radical faith.

 Ya know what else I've learned? Waiting on God isn't really waiting at all. Because waiting on God means you have the precious opportunity to enjoy who He is. You get to see His face because even in the hard times, He wants to know us personally. He isn't all about us being happy because His plans are not our own. He will give us absolutely joy as we look to Him alone.

 "Wait first on Me," translates to, "Know and be known by Me and My love."

 So wait on Christ. Lean solely on Him. Let our sweet Lord become your one desire and He will show you more of Him than you ever thought possible. There is such beauty in the waiting. Let us be glad and rejoice, not only be temporarily happy, but deeply rejoice because we have waited and we have seen Him.

 This is day 11 of my 31 day series on being romanced by Him. Read the rest here.