Saturday, February 5, 2011

Letter from HSLDA: Waiting

We love February. Being the shortest and often coldest month, we don’t regret that it flies by if it brings us closer to warmer weather. February does not make you wait ... but as you homeschool your teens there may be circumstances and people that cause you to wait. What are you waiting for?
  • A chance to read the last chapter of a book you began over a year ago?
  • An end to your homeschooling days? (On some days it gives new meaning to “come quickly, Lord Jesus,” doesn’t it? )
  • A wandering teen to get on the right path or simply to show some motivation?
  • A spouse to be more involved in what goes on at home?
  • A result from a medical test?
  • An answer to a “stale” prayer that your heart thinks has gone unnoticed?
Our goal this month is to help you gain a new perspective on waiting that will bless your homeschooling days. With help from Andrew Murray’s classic book, Waiting on God, let’s peer into the waiting room.

Reasons for Waiting

Most of us don’t wait by choice—it’s usually forced upon us. No one picks the longest line to stand in. When waiting, we may be frustrated by our lack of control in the situation. But waiting does have a purpose. It shifts the focus off of us and places it on the Lord. Whether you are waiting for the finances to improve, the volunteer to step up to coordinate the science fair this year, or your teen to stop resisting your every request, concentrating on the Lord and not on the situation will re-center your focus.
There are reasons for waiting that you may not initially notice. Can it be you need to hear from the Lord first about the wisdom of taking on a new responsibility? It could be that by waiting, you’ll be led to see that your proposed plan doesn’t mesh well with your current energy level, your family’s needs, or your teen’s best interests.
But maybe it’s the timing that’s not right. Perhaps the delay in enrolling your teen in a dual enrollment math course will give you a chance to better equip him in the skills he’ll need when he eventually can register for the class. Instead of fretting about waiting for your teen to excel in math, see this as direction from the Lord that a math-related field may not be in your child’s future! Waiting can be used to redefine goals and to realign your plans with God’s plans.
When you wait, concentrate on Who God is and what He can do. God is faithful, He is powerful, He is never late, He knows all, and most of all, He loves both you and your teen.
“Bow quietly before God, just to remember and realize who He is, how near He is, how certainly He can and will help. Just be still before Him, and allow His Holy Spirit to waken and stir in your soul the childlike disposition of absolute dependence and confident expectation.”
(Waiting on God, Andrew Murray, page 24)
It will be worth the wait!

Responses to Waiting

What is your usual response to waiting? Is it anger, impatience, worry, wailing, or bitterness?
“If we truly set ourselves to wait upon God, we will find that it is with Him we are impatient, because He does not at once, or as soon as would wish, do our bidding.”
(Waiting on God, Andrew Murray, page 51)
Yikes! In black and white, our sinful responses to waiting are pretty ugly, aren’t they? But, with the Lord’s grace, we can put off these discouraging reactions, and learn instead to reflect, pause, and take a breather while asking the Lord to show us what we need to understand or appreciate about our present circumstances.
When we do this, we grow, mature, and change. In the process, we model a humble example for our teens. We show them that waiting for the college admissions letter to arrive, the job interview to be scheduled, or the right time for a relationship to blossom can be marked by hope and calm expectation rather than by dread, disappointment, or annoyance. Seeing the wait as an opportunity to fine tune your teen’s and your character may redirect you to wait peacefully while trusting in the sovereignty and perfect ways of the Lord.

Benefits of Waiting

What can we gain by learning how to wait? Here are some gems that will be ours:
Patience: We’ll have a new ability to endure delays without becoming provoked or upset, but by staying calm. A patient parent reflects a patient Lord Who is at work behind the scenes.
“Give God His glory by resting in Him, by trusting Him fully, by waiting patiently for Him. This patience honors Him greatly. It leaves Him, as God on the throne, to do His work. It yields self wholly into His hands. It lets God be God.
(Waiting on God, Andrew Murray, page 53)
Endurance: We’ll have staying power to bear pain, hardship, or heartache for the long haul. Endurance forges strong fortitude and resilience that will be noticed by your teens.
“Strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience, joyously giving thanks to the Father ... who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.”
Colossians 1:11,12
Readiness: We’ll be better prepared to face circumstances in the future that cause us to wait. The next time you must wait, be reminded of the past mercies of the Lord and how He equipped you. Hopefully, in upcoming circumstances you'll hold your fire and hold your horses!
And,
Hope: A confident expectation and trust in the Lord. Our circumstances and other people may not be trustworthy, but our Lord is!
“Let every exercise of waiting, let our whole habit of waiting on God, be pervaded by abounding hope—a hope as bright and boundless as God’s mercy.”
(Waiting on God, Andrew Murray, page 49)

How Long Will You Wait?

Based on the phone calls we receive from HSLDA members, we know that some of you are experiencing great trial and hardship. You’ve been waiting a long time and there’s no end in sight. How long will you wait?
“What the heart is full of, occupies it, even when the thoughts are otherwise engaged. ... When the heart has learned how entirely powerless it is for one moment to keep itself or bring forth any good, when it has learned how surely and truly God will keep it, when it has, in despair of itself, accepted God’s promise to do for it the impossible, it learns to rest in God. In the midst of occupations and temptations, it can wait continually.”
(Waiting on God by Andrew Murray, page 128)
Continually ... that’s a long time! God will give you the power to wait continually. Check it out—just when the waiting is over in one area, another area of waiting will creep up on you. Until eternity, there will always be something or someone that keeps you waiting. View the wait as purposeful, positive, and planned by the Almighty who orders all things to be. Remember that your wait is never in vain.
One last word from Murray:
“He stirs up your nest. He disappoints your hopes. He brings down your confidence. He makes you fear and tremble, as all your strength fails, and you feel utterly weary and helpless. And all the while He’s spreading His strong wings for you to rest your weakness on, and offering His everlasting Creator-strength to work in you. And all He asks is that you sink down in your weariness and wait on Him.
(Waiting on God by Andrew Murray, page 93)
Jacob waited and worked the first seven years for Rachel, “but they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her” (Genesis 29:20). You can express your love for the Lord by worshipping and praising Him while you wait.
“My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation.”
Psalm 62:5,6
Next month, join us as we change gears and discuss incorporating job shadowing into your high school at home plans.
Trusting that the Lord blesses you with a new outlook on waiting as you homeschool your teens,
Becky Cooke and Diane Kummer
HSLDA High School Coordinators

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