Old Faithful?

Today, I watched as hundreds of people spent 20 minutes and more staring at a hole in the ground. I admit I was one of them. We sat or stood in anticipation, waiting for Old Faithful to spew its fount far into the sky. 

For those who don’t know (as I didn’t until recently), Old Faithful is, indeed, consistent but not to the minute. And predictions are offered with the “+ or – 10 minutes” caveat. Today’s show that I saw was closer to the “plus” side.

As I watched and waited, I was both sad and convicted. Sad that hundreds of people will watch a hole in the ground for 20 minutes or more yet won’t wait before the Lord for half that time. Convicted because I am often one of those people. Impatient. Unwilling to persist in waiting, with my gaze fixed in anticipation on the One I await. 

Today’s crowd stayed and stared because they knew that sooner or later, the geyser would live up to its namesake. Maybe some, like me, had the momentary (or, ok, several moments) thought that even though Old Faithful has been faithful before….over and over again….today might be the ONE time the geyser fails! But still we stayed, confident in what we believed: Old Faithful would display its faithfulness. And display she did. 

Why, then, when it comes to God—the source of Old Faithful’s faithfulness!—do we give up and walk away.  Instead of persisting in prayer, instead of watching and waiting— “as a watchman waits for morning”, Scripture says—we give the God of the universe and the Savior and lover of our souls less time than we give a waterspout. A spout, mind you, that has an entire industry built around it! 

Is it because we don’t truly believe? Or maybe we tire in the waiting. Or maybe—and this one is hard—but maybe we fail to recognize the immeasurable value of what—of WHO—we are waiting for. So we treat the practice of waiting lightly and of little import. And so give up. 

Scripture says if we faint in the day of adversity our strength is small. What does it say about me, then, if my will to see a geyser is stronger than my will to be faithful and persistent in prayer?  

Our waiting today was rewarded with a magnificent showing of God’s creation. Imagine, then, how our waiting on the Lord in prayer would be rewarded with God Himself—His person, power, and presence. And that alone is worth any wait.