Glacial speed

  

  

Waiting for God to act is hard.

 This ice ahead of me is immense. I expected the Hubbard Glacier to be stunning. I didn’t expect it to be so huge. The largest tidewater glacier in North America, the Hubbard is a rare example of a glacier that is building, not retreating. It’s an impressive 76 miles long and 7 miles wide where it meets the sea.

But here, from the prow of our ship, I can’t get past the massive height of this wall of ice. At 400 feet, it makes a toy out of the tour boat beneath it. Like so many wild places in creation, it mocks our human scale.

 

It’s hard to realize that such an immutable structure is in constant motion. Glaciologists like to call this the “Galloping Glacier.” Looking at this silent, frigid mass, I find that oxymoronic. But then I realize with a start that the glacier isn’t silent. I hear something – a gunshot amid thunder: the sound of the ice shifting, breaking, moving inexorably forward.

This reminds me that God can seem to have a slow speed to action.  Peter’s words come to mind:

"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."  2 Peter 3:9

Peter is referencing the long-awaited return of Jesus. But this describes a common tension between our sense of timing and God’s. We often face an impenetrable, seemingly static wall when we pray and expect God’s intervention in some earthbound issue. I am just now seeing an answer to a prayer offered for two decades. It can seem like God moves with glacial speed.

One commentator on this verse writes that “He who is from everlasting to everlasting can afford to wait.” But to what end? Peter gives us a needed perspective change. There are other people in the equation. God’s plan of action is more complex and immense than the intricate face of this ice. He is not inactive. His working is multifaceted.

He will bless us. But in our waiting, he may be blessing others.

Just then the thunder-shot sounds again. This time, I am able to capture the very moment of calving, as a large chunk of ice plunges into the sea. It dashes any doubts about the glacier’s progression. God’s actions can also be dramatic. I can remember times when he thunder-cracked into my life, some in answer to prayer, some graciously enacted before I even knew my need.

The people crowded around the bow collectively sound their amazement at the calving. The awe and wonder is palpable, even in this spiritually mixed collection of souls.

Do I show, feel, the same wonder when God moves in my life?

May I not be found with glacial-speed praise!

Great and unstoppable God, we do wonder at what looks like your inactivity. But we praise you that you are always moving for the benefit of your people and the sake of your kingdom. Give us confidence in that action, even as we wait for the thunder-crack.

Reader: What helps you through long times of waiting on the Lord?