July 22, 2004

[Rev. Doc]

Waiting On God

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."
Psalm 27:14

One of the most difficult things a child of God must do is wait for His moving in his or her life and situations.

When the Communists overran China following the end of World War II, a thousand missionaries with China Inland Mission (CIM) were trapped behind the Bamboo Curtain. CIM ordered a total evacuation in January 1951, but was it too late? Communists were not averse to killing.

Arthur and Wilda Mathews applied for exit visas on January 3. Their living conditions had deteriorated to a bare kitchen where, in the corner, Wilda had converted a footlocker into a prayer nook. Days passed with no action on their requests. Meanwhile citizens were executed on the town's athletic field every day; from her kitchen Wilda heard the shots. The strain grew unbearable, and she was overwhelmed by fear.

Sunday, March 21, 1951, was, as she later called it, Black Easter. Wilda sneaked into an Easter church service, but when she opened her mouth to sing "He Lives!" no words came out. Returning home, she fell at the trunk, and her trembling fingers found 2 Chronicles 20: "The battle is not yours, but God's.... You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem! Do not fear or be dismayed" (w. 15, 17). Wilda clamped onto those words, and two weeks later she wrote, "The conflict has been terrible, but peace and quiet reign now."

Over the next two years, the Mathews family repeatedly faced dangerous situations, their baby in harm's way, their pantry empty, their enemies surrounding them. But Arthur and Wilda committed each situation, one after another, into the Lord's hands. Miraculously, in God's timing, all the CIM missionaries got out without a single one being mar*tyred, the last being Arthur Mathews.

Always remember, God is in control.

Prayer: Ask God to give you patience and understanding during times of waiting upon Him.

"Waiting for God is not laziness. Waiting for God is not going to sleep. Waiting for God is not the abandonment of effort. Waiting for God means, first, activity under command; second, readiness for any new command that may come; third, the ability to do nothing until the command is given." ~G. Campbell Morgan