Preparing… Please Wait

 “Yet I wait for you, O LORD! You will respond, O Lord, my God!” Psalm 38:15 NET

I noticed these three words one morning on the little screen of the Keurig coffee maker at work as I waited for my cup of coffee. I had never paid attention before, but it is interesting. Next a slideshow plays: coffee beans on the tree, a large vat of them being dried, then processed, the little individual cup with the ground coffee in it, the hot water flowing through the cup and finally the fresh brewed cup of coffee, just for you.

Isn’t that what Jesus says sometimes, as He is preparing us, our hearts, the circumstances or other parties involved around us?

We often think He is ignoring us during those waiting times, but He’s not. He is actively involved in both our preparation and our waiting. For example, He prepares our heart (Psalm 10:17). There is a process that we must go through in most things in life, and if we interrupt it during any of those steps of preparation, we don’t get what we were intended to.

It wouldn’t do me much good to have a green coffee bean plunk into my cup, or even several that had been properly processed. If I don’t wait for it to be packaged correctly then I have nothing but a bunch of grounds in the bottom of the cup, and most of us know how unappealing that can be. The water has to be heated up—which equates to some of the trials that we must face sometimes—to bring the dross to the surface (Isaiah 1:25-27), to clean away what is of the flesh and not the Spirit. Sometimes the heat comes in the very midst of being surrounded by enemies. He is with us there also as He prepares a table for us (Psalm 23:5). In the end it will be glorious, as He has gone to prepare a place for us (John 14:2-3).

Jesus knows exactly what we need, and when we (and others around us) need it. So if you find yourself waiting on the Lord, know He is either preparing something for you, or preparing you for something. “Blessed are those who listen to Me, watching daily at My doors, waiting at My doorway. For those who find Me find life and receive favor from the LORD” (Proverbs 8:34-35 NIV).

Lord, help us to wait patiently, with the knowledge that You are preparing what is always ultimately for our best. Amen.