Wait Passionately

In two places E.P.'s The Message has "wait passionately." As an impatient person I'm trying to figure out how to apply that to my life. Ps. 37:34 has it. I guess I was confused, thinking I needed to "wait, rest in God" quietly (which I still need to do but haven't mastered it yet, part of the Sanctification process), but I guess it has something to do with the deer panting perhaps? If an animal is thirsty, they wait till they can locate their watering hole I suppose. But they don't just sit there and wait, they actually try and do something about it. If I'm thirsty, I buy a bottle of water or go get myself a drink from the fridge/sink etc. Sometimes I have to sit and wait for something bigger to happen (money to buy the bottle of water? Cups and glasses to be washed? Filter to fill the pitcher with clean water?) But until then, I pant and get chapped lips, and feel cotton mouthed. So I must do something about it. My dad taught me to get others a drink first before you fill your own (don't always do it, mind you, just a good practice to remember). I think I remember Sheldon Vanauken's "A Severe Mercy" speaking of when he and his wife would get up in the middle of night for each other, bringing "a cup of cold water in the dark." That in and of itself is sheer sacrifice!

Dr. Paul Kooistra shares this sweet story:
"Dr. Robertson McQuilkin, retired president of Col. Int'l Univ. and elder statesman in the evangelical world, was gracious enough to agree to meet with me [and his wife Jan]...Finally he said to us, 'I'd like for you to meet my wife, Muriel.'
We were aware that Mrs. McQuilkin suffered from Alzheimer's Disease, and knew that her husband had retired in order to devote full time to her care. I felt awkward, but Jan, a skilled geriatric nurse, gently took her hand and kissed her cheek softly. The old lady's eyes brightened as she began to pat Jan's hand.
'The last words she was ever able to say were, 'I love you,'' Dr. McQuilkin said. He related how, after her memory began to fade, she would spend her days strolling down the driveway that led from their home to his office. 'I came to tell you that I love you,' she would say. Her husband would spend a few minutes with her before a student assistant would gently take her elbow to guide her home, but in less than an hour she would appear again. 'I want to remind you that I love you.'
Gradually forgetting her routines, her recipes, her friends, even her own name, she yet remembered the love of her life. Some powerful inner compass drew her to him a dozen times a day. As strength faded, love grew. At night as her husband removed her shoes, he would find her socks adhered to her feet, glued by the blood from scratches and blisters she hadn't noticed as she shuffled back and forth, back and forth, over to the path to the one she loved. The sight of that blood pricked his heart. He knew it was time to let go of his own agenda to care for her. Her welfare became his passion.
Here I was witnessing love that met her most quiet needs, visible to no eye but God's- love that permeated every corner of that home. Love massaged lotion into bleeding feet, comforted fears at midnight, and wearily spooned pureed food into a hungry mouth with tenderness and dignity- asking no thanks, expecting no fanfare.
The palpable presence of Christ in that home impacted me more than all the lectures and theories on missions that humble man could ever have spoken. As he related the story, he spoke mildly with no trace of bitterness of disappointment.
'It was the sight of her blood that changed everything.'
The Son of God showed His love with His blood- the blood He shed on the cross for you and me. It is the blood that changes everything."

That's what we all want, someone to grow old with us to love and care for us always, or what we all want for our grandparents. But we already have it - we can only find it, true pure love in Jesus Christ.
"Be ashamed to die until you have scored a victory for mankind." Dr. TP Kalogris