“God’s people are often called to be a waiting people — not because he is unkind or unloving, but rather the exact opposite. God’s people are a waiting people because he is an on-time God, not an on-demand one.”- Jess Connolly, Foreword to Still Waiting by Ann Swindell
“There was a woman who had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him and touched his garment.”- Mark 5:25-27
In the Author’s Note to Still Waiting: Hope for When God Doesn’t Give You What You Want, Ann Swindell states her ultimate desire for this book. Ms. Swindell desires that the story of the Bleeding Woman (Matthew 9:20-23, Mark 5: 25-33, and Luke 8:43-48), combined with her own journey, points the reader to the truth and goodness of Christ Jesus.
Furthermore, in the Introduction (“A Woman Acquainted with Waiting”), Ann wants to uncover:
- what the Bleeding Woman’s story reveals about the character of Christ
- how Christ draws near to the hurting
Most noteworthy, the woman’s story involves a story of waiting. Similarly, at some point in your life, you’ll find yourself waiting for something. Like the author, you may ask these questions:
- Will Jesus give me what I’m seeking?
- As my waiting stretches on, will I still love Jesus, no matter what?
- Will I still trust Jesus?
However, in the middle of her questions, prayers, and confusion, Ann discovered that:
“I found myself waiting for a God I couldn’t always make sense of or understand. But I met him in the waiting. And for me, that changed everything.”
Today’s question: How has your life grown as part of a waiting people? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: Brokenness – more normal than foreign”
