Day 14

   The Super Bowl is set... Colts vs. Saints.  I was a Saints fan all season because of Drew Brees, my fantasy football quarterback, even after I got knocked out of the playoffs myself.  Go Saints!  And just about every time I watch football, I am reminded of my limited experience playing football.  But one thing I remember vividly, either from backyard games or my short stint on the 7th grade squad, is being stuck on the bottom of a dog pile.  What a scary feeling!  Being the bottom of a football pancake stack, unable to move or get off the ground.  What I remember is the shear panic that surfaced quickly once I realized I was trapped under the big bodies. I couldn't escape.  Now, when I watch professionals in the same situation, I notice that they just lay still.  Not fighting to get up (most of the time), but just waiting.  Eventually, all the monstrous tacklers get back on their feet and reveal the not-so-huge running back or quarterback, who slowly rises to his feet unscathed.  No panic, no stress, and usually no injury.  These guys have learned to just be patient, especially when they have no other choice. 
   Such is the case with us.  Patience = suffering.  In some translations of the Bible, patience is rendered "long-suffering."  Have you ever prayed for patience?  Do you realize what you're asking for?  I remember a scene from the movie "Evan Almighty."  The "God" character is telling a woman that when we ask for patience, we are given opportunities to learn it through our experiences.  It just doesn't fall from the sky.  Patience is learned.  As is the case in football, we've learned to submit to something or someone patiently, when we have no other choice or can't muster up the strength to overcome, much like being on the bottom of the dog pile.  But what about in our waiting on God?  Murray says, "In waiting on God it is of infinite consequence that we not only submit because we are compelled to, but because we lovingly and joyfully consent to be in the hands of our blessed Father."  Our patience in waiting is something we do because we know, love and trust God to come through.  Here are some qualities of patiently waiting, according to Murray:  "The great stillness of soul...that sinks into its own helplessness, the deep humility...afraid...to work except as God works..., the meekness that is content to be and to know nothing except as God gives His light, the entire resignation of the will that only wants to be a vessel in which His holy will can move and mold."  Am I a vessel for God's will?  Have I emptied myself of my own will in order for His to fill me?  Who's really in charge here?  That's the tough question.  
   So what are the results of this patient waiting?  "He has put a new song in my mouth." (Psalm 40:3).  The results are more praise to the Father and a realization that all my suffering, or waiting, or wondering ultimately can bring praise to the one Who deserves it.  By the way, that's not me.