Dear Friends in Christ, Several weeks ago, Sherre and I went to the Department of Motor Vehicles over off Carothers to get a Tennessee driver's license. We were told to get there before it opened in order to expedite the process. When we arrived there was already a line in the parking lot. We took Dr. Davis Chappell our place behind a couple with a stroller. The child in the stroller was 2 years old. She was the most patient person in the line. I said to her parents, "Apparently your daughter has not learned that waiting is not a good thing. Let's not tell her any different." She was content to wait because she was in the presence of the two people who loved her more than anyone else in the world. As long as she was with them, even waiting was a good thing. That child made my day! Her example reminded me that there is something meaningful in learning to wait. I thought of Isaiah 40:29-31: "God gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." I had some Liberian friends back in Atlanta who now and then would invite me to what they called "a tarry." A tarry is a prayer meeting. A time where the faithful would come together for prayer. Sometimes it would last all night. They would pray and sing and linger with God, and then go back to their homes and work, empowered by waiting. I was amazed by their faithfulness and persistence. Their example reminds me that our strength is not always in our flurry, but in our ability to tarry.
Lord, help me to use the disruptions and interruptions of my day, the traffic, the inconveniences and delays as a time to tarry, that my strength might be renewed! In Jesus' name. Amen. Finally, it was good to welcome new members Reagan Pica and Kinsley Rogers. Welcome to our church community.
Davis