When one begins reminiscing years of endeavoring to be in league with “The Lord of Hosts,” to be sure, the accumulations of memories are found to be boundlessly compiled of both good times and not so good times. You’ve no doubt heard a timely adage echoed in the tune of “life is what you make it?” And while this statement certainly has an essence of truth, there is yet a more profound truth beneath the exterior of every situation in every journey of every life here on planet earth. Situated latently and oft times undiscovered is this marvelous truth; “life is what you can allow to be made.”
Papi Proverb 201 – Say not “life is what you make it”; rather say “life is what you can allow to be made.”
The Hebrew terminology used for “The Lord God of Hosts” is “ha-adon Adonai Tzeva’ot.” There are numerous descriptive titles given among various cultures and languages to the One Creator of the universe but there still remains only the “ONE.” Even this term above is merely used to replace a more accurate rendering of the phrase “YHVH ‘elohey tsebaoth” or “YHVH ‘elohim tsebaoth. It is all in linguistics and translations and versions and you name it. The more you study, the more you are required to study; and there is always someone who knows more than you know. At any rate, this tale is about waiting upon the LORD – the controlling ONE!
The reason I used the term “Lord of Hosts” is simply to acknowledge and give praise to Him for being the great Commander in Chief. The army of forces that obligingly obeys his every command and in such timely fashion is unfathomable. Each force, each time, renders unquestionable compliancy and waits only to be released unto assignment. The providence of the Almighty never ceases to astound me. And when one attempts to surmise the manifold aspects needed to bring about any given scenario it is so phenomenally intricate that we begin to understand what the Apostle Paul said concerning this knowledge. In Romans 8:28 he stated: and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
I could just as easily call God “My Father” and often do because I know and understand that he loves me, corrects me, and provides for me. He gave me life and sustains my life. He looked out for me even when I didn’t know he was looking out for me. Oh please beloved; please note that the time of not knowing is passed; for I now know even as the Apostle Peter came to know.
In 1 Peter 5:7 he urges us to live life even as he learned to live “Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you.” Paul says, Romans 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. Verse 12 reads: The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. Beneath the carnally surmised surface of reality (that is called darkness) there is a lot going on in the spiritual realm of control (that is called light). 1 Co 2:14 But a natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
It is sort of like traffic laws on our highways. They are hidden and they are revealed; revealed when you actually see a sign and hidden in the distances between the signs. Jesus said on more than one occasion “An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign.” Why would he say such a thing? Because the generation that he described are unbelievers and because the marvelous and divine control of all things still exists hidden in the distances whether one sees a sign or not! And for this reason he said “There shall be no sign given” save one! Some folks argue that God does not exist because he hasn’t placed a sign personally in front of them. And when he does place a sign they forget all about him until the next time they see a sign. These traffic laws may be potentially hidden in ones mind when he is speeding and then forcefully revealed when he stands guilty before the magistrate. However, the knowledge of their existence is given to all who actually accept their existence. The highway law concerning limits and whatnot has been ordered by the powers that be and are set in force whether you are aware of it or not. All of creation has laws that are set in place regarding every entity and every outcome including the law of time. These laws were all established in creation’s beginning and are summarily controlled by “The Lord of Hosts.”
Admittedly sometimes it is so very hard to see that all things are lining up just right in order that a situation may be called “good.” However, the practice of waiting upon “The Lord of Hosts” is nonetheless made perfect by the knowledge one receives as reward in so doing. Lessons or rewards in life aren’t always measured by a dollar amount. In fact, if one simply leaves out the equation of carnal riches then the greater enrichment of knowledge is to be discovered. Scripture admonishes us all to “get understanding” above all that we ever get in this life of journey. The “Hosts” that the Lord commands must be understood to be not merely an army of many; it is to include not only angels and elements; but it includes the integral design of every entity in existence or has been or will be in existence. Listen to how this astute prophet states it: Isaiah 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
Papi Proverb 46 – There is INTENT to all events, considered, and placed by the Divine; understand the progression of that intent and patience becomes the reward.
Papi Proverb 86 – Every entity must have a place of abode to exist; the room that occupies its existence was set by the divine law of boundary at the point of its own reality.
Papi Proverb 87 – Every entity then needs a path in order to move; understanding this in the highest degree of essentiality is paramount to victory.
Papi Proverb 88 – The path of movement for any entity seen or unseen must be provided by and through a greater entity seen or unseen; when the path is denied by greater force there is no movement.
That question once asked of Shakespeare concerning “To be or not to be” is fully answered every morning when the stars sing together and the sons of God shout for joy to learn what “The Lord of Hosts” has ordered for this “the day that the Lord hath made.” His mercies are new every morning and the sadness concerning some who journey is that they never know of His great provisions in life. “Life is what you can allow to be made.”
Papi Proverb 150 – Defining the day must begin early; one must actually meet with them that do it.
The discipline to refrain from excessive scriptural insertions and to use Proverbs by Papi is hard to practice for there are truly many of both that fit throughout any given composition or speech. However, inasmuch as these Anecdotes are presented in brevity and as I possess a tendency to be thorough in teaching, I will discipline myself to the sharing of faith at hand.
My wife and I were experiencing one of those “not so good times” in our unified journey; but the Father who had joined us together took time to reinforce his teaching to us that He is always near no matter what the circumstance. Inasmuch as two are joined in marriage and become one flesh, what one goes through consequently the other should go through as well. This is a relatively simple understanding but there are so many marriages that don’t survive because oneness is so conveniently abandoned during trying times and the comradery of trust never recovers. Ladonna’s mother was ill. Isn’t that a beautiful name – Ladonna? I’ve always thought so; Ladonna is obviously my wife’s name. Her mother had gotten ill and was hospitalized at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta Georgia late in the year 1991 and was still there is 1992, the time of this sharing.
This 130 mile round trip had been taken multiple times twice a week for her mother’s clinical treatment for a couple years prior to this time of hospitalization. My wife had done the majority of that driving to and fro for a long time. But during this particular time of the actual hospitalization it required that we made the trip nearly every evening. During part of the time we switched back and forth with Ladonna’s younger sister who had a baby during that time and so it was hard on all of us. When I got off work Ladonna and I would make the trip and stay in the intensive care unit with her mother until 1 am or 2 am or longer at times but all agreed it was a “not so good time.”
At that particular facility after a certain time in the evening the charge for parking was a flat rate and had to be paid in advance. Visitors paid on the way in because there was no one there on the way out to receive your money. So here we come to pay our evening parking. I reached for my wallet and didn’t have one. Oh my goodness … I opened the door, checked all in the car, could not find it, and suddenly realized it must be at Taco Bell!
Now here is where the interesting part of this tale finds a sustaining praise in order to glorify “The Lord of Hosts.” There was a Taco Bell about 5 or 6 miles from the hospital at which LD and I had stopped to eat. And yes, LD is short for Ladonna. Naturally the rush was on and I am not at all certain that she and I were in compliance with the local speed limits. Now don’t forget married folks are in things together; since I was speeding she was speeding also. At any rate we get to Taco Bell to search for my wallet.
The search began at the very booth at which we earlier sat of course. My wallet was neither on the table nor on the floor; but what could one expect we had been gone several minutes. I approached the sales-counter and asked for the manager in charge and detailed the whole event for his consideration. After assuring me that no one had ACTUALLY turned in a wallet he was gracious enough to take all the pertinent information so that he could contact me if my wallet showed up. I asked him had the floor been swept while we were gone and if so could I speak with the individual who had performed that task. He sent a little girl to us and we had a brief conversation and then we began to “Wait upon the Lord.”
Now since we are waiting I may as well tell you how it came about that my wallet was lost at Taco Bell. LD and I were sitting at a certain booth, yes that very same one, and LD said “I’d like another taco.” So-ooo … out comes the wallet – I hand it to her, or at least I tried to hand it to her. She said, “Oh I just need a dollar.” I gave her a dollar and laid my wallet in the seat between my legs instead of putting it in my back pocket. Now why would I do such a thing? I haven’t a clue except that sitting on a wallet irritates me and I still occasionally do the same trick. Can’t help telling the truth … like George Washington I am a man of truth. Bad habits are brought to bear for the consideration of change or consequence. I suppose I’ve just provided my own judgment concerning that “bad habit”. See how easy it is? Change could be just around the next corner for all of us!
The truth is my wallet was also just a little thicker than normal that evening because I had just cashed a check for $763.00. Aah! So then the search was not merely for my old well worn wallet, it was for my new unspent money as well! And so we kept searching and kept waiting!
“Wait upon the Lord!”
That little girl along with her manager suggested that it might have or could possibly have or maybe accidentally have gotten thrown away in the trash. So once again while we were waiting on “The Lord of Hosts,” whom I just called God in those days, we decided to look through the trash for my ‘ole fatter than usual wallet. I hope not many of you dear readers have ever had to look through Taco Bell trash bags but it is clearly an experience unto itself. My beloved wife and I and that little girl went out back to the dumpster, and as she was the Taco Bell employee, she climbed in and retrieved as I recall seven or eight bags of the nastiest conglomerated uneaten and undrank mess … well I guess you had to be there! So here we are searching and waiting and waiting and searching. Of course I knew all along the wallet wasn’t any where near the dumpster. The spirit of prophecy and the word of knowledge and the discernment of spirits’ had been at work in my life for many years before that evening. I knew she just needed a little time for everything to line up in her mind according to the will of “Our Father,” “The Lord of Hosts.”
When we got to the last bag she quietly said “If you want to go through that last one I’ll go inside and check one more time.” I then told my darling searching companion – “Praise the LORD, she’s gone to get it, we’ll give her just a little more time.” So we (my wife and I) with just enough patience for that particular incident practiced the teaching of “Wait upon the Lord.”
Ladonna and I went inside and washed up and revisited the manger and told him we didn’t find it and asked him to hang on to our contact information just in case. When I opened the door of my automobile to leave THERE LAY MY WALLET – NOT A SINGLE DOLLAR WAS MISSING!
Beloved the scriptures tell us that signs and wonders not only follow Apostles but believers as well. As a believer sometimes all it takes is being in obedience to the Word such as “Wait . . . upon the Lord” for Him to prove that he is and that he is a rewarder to them that diligently seek him. It is called abiding in the word. He will actually prove that He is – that He exists and that He rewards – He actually looks out for those that seek Him to do so! For not only does He stand ready to mend carnal mistake but gives the opportunity to all to do the right thing and find eternal reward for that display of righteousness in the world to come. May “ha-adon Adonai Tzeva’ot” reveal Himself to you by His mighty ways that are greatly to be praised. A not so good time may well be a good time disguised … waiting only to be revealed by remembering that someone once told you a little story entitled “Wait upon the Lord.”
Post Scriptum
My wife read this after I composed it and made a comment about the signs and wonders. She said “I can see the wonder but where is the sign?” The wonder of course is that one could actually get a wallet back with several hundred dollars in it; and if you knew my wife it was a wonder that she agreed to look through “trash.”
She is what some folks call a “Clean Freak” – she’s bona fide!
A sign on the other hand is a signal to get one’s attention. They are placed at intersections to denote different paths that have different results if traveled thereon and therein. Signs are memorials as to what went on in a certain spot or what does go on in a certain place. Signs are set markers to events and places that we all present in the end as to what our actual activities in life were. The sign in this incident beloved accompanied the wonder of the opportunity to experience the grace of “Our Lord and Savior – Christ Jesus,” whom we call “Yahushua.”
This incident not only allowed my wife and I to experience anew the grace of God but it gave that young lady that once worked at Taco Bell a sign. She may hold it up during the judgment of her deeds and with quiet resolve declare “I learned to wait on the Lord because I learned … he waited on me.
Amen.
View the PDF below as it was originally presented
Anecdote | Written April 25, 2008
Wait Upon The Lord PDF