Nathan's thoughts on waiting...

What do you do when you are waiting? Adoption is full of waiting and I don’t really enjoy that aspect, but there is some benefit to waiting. This past Sunday, our pastor shared about how the disciples waited after Jesus’ death and Resurrection – they went fishing.

As a brief aside, I am not sure if we have ever talked about our home church in this blog, but we have been blessed to be part of a vibrant body of believers at the First Alliance Church in Lexington for more than 11 years. The worship and teaching from the Word refreshes and challenges weekly. Nearly every week on our way home from church, Cydil and I find ourselves discussing something from Pastor Elliot’s message. He often mentions the sermon the Holy Spirit preaches around the sermon, and God has often preached directly to us through our pastor’s messages. Recently we have seemed to hear everything through the lens of adoption.

Ok back to the waiting disciples. Jesus had told them several times when warning them about his death and resurrection that they were to go to Galilee and wait for him there. The angels at the tomb told the women to remind the disciples that Jesus was going ahead of them to Galilee. So they went and waited. But where was Jesus? What should they do while they wait? According to John 21, Peter decides to go fishing and six other disciples join him. They fish all night and don’t catch anything, but they were really killing time anyway. The next morning Jesus calls from the shore and asks how many fish they have caught. The disciples have to admit what no fisherman wants to admit – no fish. Then came Jesus’ crazy suggestion that they try the other side of the boat. When they do they have a miraculous catch. They couldn’t even drag the fish into the boat, they had to drag the nets to shore, but the nets didn’t break. That is why they were able to count 153 fish. There are more details, but God’s message to me was encapsulated in this part of the story.

1. God sometimes asks us to go and wait for Him to show up. We have felt that in many ways we have been waiting in Galilee for a while now. We didn’t know that David Reni would be how Jesus would show up, and it did take a little bit to recognize Him on the shore.
2. It’s OK to do something while you wait. It has been even harder to wait these last weeks now that we have some information. The adoption committee will be meeting in the next 10 days. Since our last adoption post, we have painted David’s room (pictures to follow), filled out more paperwork, researched hotels in Elbasan, and talked a lot with Ellie (who is having more trouble waiting than we are)!
3. God’s miraculous provision follows obedience. As crazy as throwing the net on the other side of the boat may have seemed, they would have missed the amazing catch without their obedience. We weren’t expecting David, but have already experienced God’s favor as we have moved forward in obedience.
4. The nets didn’t break. This detail may seem insignificant, but I felt a peace from God with the thought that whatever the challenges of this adoption, God has equipped Cydil and I with what we need and with God’s help, our nets won’t break in the process.
5. When God works, there is value in ‘counting’ and ‘reporting’ what He has done. We hope this blog will be a place where we can report the 153 or so God sightings that are and will continue to happen.