The Lord Waits... to Be Gracious to You

"I ask for the desire to pray and mediate regularly, especially through a weekend at camp with 100 children.  I ask for patience, gentleness, tolerance, empathy and compassion.  I ask to abstain from anger, frustration, discouragement, anxiety, and compulsive behaviour.  I ask to know Jesus more intimately, love him more fully, and follow him more closely.  I ask to know myself and others as Christ knows us, as made in the image an likeness of God."


Isaiah 30:18-22
¹⁸ Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you;
   therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
   blessed are all those who wait for him.
19 Truly, O people in Zion, inhabitants of Jerusalem, you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when he hears it, he will answer you. ²⁰Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself any more, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. ²¹And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’ ²²Then you will defile your silver-covered idols and your gold-plated images. You will scatter them like filthy rags; you will say to them, ‘Away with you!’


1) "...waits to be gracious to you;" "God of justice;" "...blessed are those who wait for him;" "...weep no more;" "...surely be gracious;" "...he will answer you;" "...your eyes shall see your Teacher;" "...this is the way; walk in it;" "He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry;" "The Lord waits to be gracious to you;"


2) I feel a desire to wait quietly for God to be gracious.  I want to observe and witness the ways in which I know God is being gracious, has been gracious, will be gracious.  I feel a longing to myself be gracious.  I am aware of my lack of graciousness.  I become anxious, angry, discouraged so easily.  I'm impatient and easily distracted.  The slightest obstacle and I forget my intentions and everything I do defeats the end of being gracious.  I wish I were more trusting in God's graciousness and that the "adversity" and "affliction" had less impact on me.  I wish I more fully understood that the adversity and affliction were little tests sent to grow the very traits I keep asking for: gentleness, tolerance, patience, empathy, compassion...


3) What is the invitation I all this?  To wait on the graciousness of God.  To exercise graciousness in a moment when I might otherwise compulsively react from anxiety, anger, discouragement...


"Holy One, help me wait graciously on your graciousness."


Breathprayer: "The Lord waits... to be gracious to you."