By Kelly Akins
Lent is a time of waiting, but it is also a time of preparation. We must get ready. Seeds are growing, and plants are peeking out from underground. Are you listening? Can you hear God speaking in the stillness and the quiet? I wonder what God is trying to tell us in this season.
In one of today’s Scripture readings, the Lord tells Samuel to go to Jesse the Bethlehemite to find a new king. Samuel was listening and obeyed the Lord. He went and invited Jesse and his sons to the sacrifice to sanctify themselves. Seven of Jesse’s sons presented themselves to Samuel, but the Lord rejected all of them. Even though they were handsome, tall and youthful, the Lord looked at their heart.
I wonder what God sees when looking at my heart. Does God see kindness or anger, forgiveness or bitterness, generosity or selfishness?
Waiting is hard. It seems we are always waiting for something or someone — for Christmas, for Easter, vacation, a new job, summer, a promotion. I always get impatient when I need to wait for someone. What about you? It’s easy to forget to slow down and be patient. We must learn to wait on God’s timing.
Samuel asked Jesse if there was another son after the Lord had rejected the others. When Jesse replied that the youngest son was tending the sheep, Samuel asked Jesse to bring him into the house. The Lord told Samuel this was the one who should be anointed as king. Samuel waited on God’s timing because he knew that what God had planned was better than anything he could imagine or create.
When I started as Wilshire’s minister to preschoolers, I knew we needed to create a safe space for our neurodivergent children. As we remodeled the preschool area, I knew where to put the space, but it just did not come together like I wanted it to.
Someone suggested I find a young person looking for an Eagle Scout project. Fast forward one year, and that suggestion has come to fruition. We’re beginning work on a sensory room, a place where children can go to calm down, get their bodies regulated and deescalate behaviors.
I had to wait on God’s timing to put the right people in the right place at the right time. The waiting was hard and sometimes frustrating, but God has given me more than I ever asked for. It is wonderful when things come together in God’s timing.
Lord, help us to be patient in the waiting. Help us make room in our hearts for your timing and blessings. Amen.