Line Upon Line

"Greetings! Your name has been selected..."

Wow! It's fun to win stuff, right? I won the lottery once -- the Selective Service System lottery. I was awarded a two year, all-expense-paid opportunity to see the world with the United States Army. That was back during the days of the Vietnam War.

The lottery drawing was held December 1, 1969, at Selective Service National Headquarters in Washington, D.C.. Radio microphones and television cameras captured the event, as 366 blue plastic capsules containing birth dates were placed in a large glass container and then drawn out by hand. The capsule containing my birthday, September 8th, was the 184th to be drawn.

The following year, I received a letter ordering me to report for active military service. On the appointed day, I appeared at the office of our local draft board in Flint, Michigan. I was loaded onto a bus with 40 or 50 other guys, and we were transported to Fort Wayne, in Detroit. The fort was constructed from 1844-1847 to protect the United States against a possible attack from Canada (seems to have worked so far). It was named for a Revolutionary War hero, General 'Mad Anthony' Wayne. Although decommissioned in 1964, the old fort was reopened to serve as an induction and processing center for Vietnam era draftees.

Our busload of young men from the Flint area joined hundreds of "lucky lottery winners" from other Michigan cities. We were taken to a room, told to strip off our clothes, and form a line. Then we were herded from one station to another, where we were questioned, measured, weighed, examined, prodded, and poked to make sure we were fit to fight.

"Hurry up! Move it along!"

Those commands kept the line of humanity moving quickly from room to room through that cold, gray, soon-to-be-condemned building. When we arrived at each examination station, however, we stood and waited...and waited...and waited...and waited some more. One of the more enlightened members of our group advised us that we might as well get used to "hurry up and wait" -- it's part of the military way of life, he said.

Hurry up and wait -- that seems to characterize much of the Christian life, too. As we follow the Lord, there are times when God puts us on hold (don't you just hate being put on hold?). The fact that God makes us wait should come as no surprise -- especially when you stop and consider the lives of Abraham, Moses, Joseph, and Paul. There is precedent here.

Trouble is, we live in a world that doesn't want to wait for anything. We want it all, and we want it now (or yesterday). But that's not the way things work in the Kingdom of God. There are some things God works in us -- and out of us -- only as we wait on Him. It's a tough lesson, but a necessary one to learn, if we're going to become the people God has called us to be.

By the way, after thoroughly checking me out, Uncle Sam decided he wouldn't be needing me after all. I, and a couple other guys, got back on the bus and headed home. I guess God had other plans.

think on these things...

Psalm 27:14 (NKJV)
Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!

Psalm 62:1,2 (NLT)
I wait quietly before God, for my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken.

"God often causes delays in our lives that we cannot understand. Sometimes it seems our obedience is not getting rewarded. Jesus said He learned obedience through the things He suffered (see Heb. 5:8). Imagine that - Jesus having to learn obedience. What does that say for you and me? Sometimes God's delays are simply because He wants more glory in the situation, more recognition, more Christ-likeness in you and me through greater patience and obedience." Os Hillman

"I will charge my soul to believe and wait for Him, and will follow His providence, and not go before it, nor stay behind it." Samuel Rutherford