Marcus Redding Waits

“So are my prayers doing any good? I mean, it’s been four months now. The baby is due in June. Here it’s March already.” Marcus heard tires squeal outside and his eyes darted to the window. He sat for a minute looking at the traffic going by on the Loop. Finally he took a deep breath, “It’s not supposed to be this way. Lauren is a rock star at her job and I had a job in a warehouse. I lost that job, now I can’t find anything at all.”

Last Sunday evening Marcus had approached their preacher, John Humble, and said he wanted to sit down and talk with him. So here they were on Tuesday morning. Marcus sat on the couch, work boots laced up, hair cut short, hands in his jacket. John sat across from Marcus in a comfy chair. His Bible was perched on a corner of his desk, a yellow legal pad stuffed in the middle.

“So what do you pray for?” John got to the heart of the matter.

Marcus was terse, almost angry, “I’m praying that God will let me find work so that Lauren can stay home.”

John leaned forward, “That’s a good prayer. It’s in line with God’s will. We know that God will answer prayers according to his will.”

Marcus had heard that before, “Yeah, I know but…”

John interrupted, “Marcus. Listen. ‘this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.’ That’s 1 John 5:14. Do you believe that?” John looked intently at Marcus.

Marcus looked back at him, his eyes betraying his thoughts, “I do believe it…most of the time.” Marcus gave a half smile and said, “I believe, help my unbelief. That’s Mark 9:24. Do you believe that?”

John laughed, “You can quote scripture too!” The humor reduced the tension. John went on, “God will answer your prayer. But here’s the thing: it says “he hears us.” It doesn’t say when he will answer, it doesn’t say how he will answer. But he will. The main thing is what you do in the meantime.”

Marcus asked the obvious question, “What do I do in the meantime?”

John reached for his Bible and took out the legal pad. He tore out a page and handed it to Marcus. It was a list of seven scriptures. “I looked these up for you today. Read one each day this week. Then we’ll talk about them next week. Okay?”

Marcus nodded, “Okay.”

John went on, “Let’s read #6 right now. Here you go.” John handed Marcus his Bible, open to Lamentations 3:24-33. Marcus read it out loud. “What jumps out at you?” John asked.

Marcus knew the scripture. “It says it is good to wait and good to go through hard times.”

John sympathized, “Not what we usually think, huh? And look at verse 25, ‘the LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.’ Every time you pray you are seeking him. It’s what we do while we wait. These scriptures are not about getting answers. There is no formula for getting what we want, but there are principles that show us how to become what God wants us to be.”

Marcus sat back and looked out the window, “And what does God want me to be?”

John settled back in his chair and looked out the same window. He smiled and quietly said, “A waiter.”

More about Marcus Redding’s journey of faith next week.