Keep dancing ... um, I mean rowing ...

This morning my spirit flagged. I awoke taking in my room in my sister and brother-kin's home ... my home for the next couple of months as I wait. My heart welled with thankfulness for their graciousness and kindness and generosity ... and then it sank from the thoughts that flooded in, "This is not where I thought I would be. This is not where I want to be. O, woe is me!" Even the first snow fall of the season that greeted me as I pulled up the blind failed to cheer me ... and anyone who knows me knows that is something! I love snow!

After making a cuppa, I settled to prayers. Before I opened my Bible, I picked up a chapter copied from a book that my friend sent me. I don't know the author and I don't know the book. But, again as in days past, God's voice was encouraging me that He is at work and is with me in this. I wish I could share the entire chapter with you, but here is a bit of it that I hope will encourage you to keep dancing the dance of God's Present Presence with you, to keep rowing even when you can't see Him.

It was dark now, and Jesus had not yet come to them. - John 6:17

"... Doesn't peace always follow obedience? Perhaps the disciples had the same expectation. They only did what they were told. Jesus told them to get into the boat, so they did. They didn't question the order; they simply obeyed it....What was the result of their obedience? 'It was dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The followers got into a boat and started across the lake to Capernaum. By now a strong wind was blowing, and the waves on the lake were getting bigger' (John 6:16-17).

What a chilling phrase, 'Jesus had not yet come to them.' Caught in the storm of the 'not yet.' ...The disciples had been on the sea for about nine hours. John tells us they rowed four miles (John 6:19). That's a long night. How many times did they search the darkness for their Master? How many times did they call out his name?
Why did he take so long?
Why does he take so long?...

Mark tells us that during the storm Jesus 'saw his followers struggling' (Mark 6:48). Through the night he saw them. Through the storm he saw them. And like a loving father he waited. He waited till the right time, until the right moment. He waited until he knew it was time to come, and then he came.

What made it the right time? I don't know. Why was the ninth hour better than the fourth or fifth? I can't answer that. Why does the Lord wait until the money is gone? Why does he wait until the darkness has lingered? Why does he wait until the other side of the grave to answer prayers for healing?

I don't know. I only know his timing is always right. I can only trust he will do what is best. 'God will always give what is right to his people who cry to him night and day, and he will not be slow to answer them.' (Luke 18:7).

Though you hear nothing, He is speaking. Though you see nothing, He is acting. With God there are no accidents. Every incident is intended to bring us closer to him....
So what does God do while we are enduring the pain? What does he do while we are in the storm? You'll love this. He prays for us. Jesus wasn't in the boat because he had gone to the hills to pray (see Mark 6:46). Jesus prayed. That is remarkable. It is even more remarkable that Jesus didnt stop praying when his disciples were struggling. When he heard their cries, He remained in prayer.... He still prays for his disciples. ...

So where does that leave us? While Jesus is praying and we are in the storm, what are we to do? Simple. We do what the disciples did. We row. (We dance. We give thanks!) The disciples rowed most of the night. Mark says they 'struggled hard' to row the boat (Mark 6:48). The word struggle elsewhere is translated as 'tormented'. ...

Much of life is spent rowing. Getting out of bed. Fixing lunches. Turning in assignments. Changing diapers. Paying bills. ... More struggle than strut. More wrestling than resting. ...
...at the right time, God comes. In the right way, He appears. So don't bail out. Don't give up! Don't lay down the oars! ...

When you can't see him, trust him.

He is praying a prayer that he himself will answer.