Speaker 1: Welcome to Abides Sleep Meditations. I'm Tyler Boss. Today's meditation
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Speaker 2: and body as we hear tonight's sleep story.
Speaker 3: Hello and welcome to this sleep story from Abide. I'm
Speaker 3: Bonnie Curry. Thanks so much for joining me for our
Speaker 3: story rest in the waiting. Life yields many seasons. Some
Speaker 3: are fresh beginnings, where all is new and exciting and
Speaker 3: full of possibility. Others are about closure. As a chapter
Speaker 3: comes to an end, we say goodbye to something or someone.
Speaker 3: Endings can bring sadness or a sense of completion, but
Speaker 3: either way the story concludes. But a season of waiting
Speaker 3: is the middle ground. There is no satisfying ending, no
Speaker 3: fresh beginning. Often we don't know when the waiting will
Speaker 3: be over. My friend, it is in these times that
Speaker 3: we hone our ability to trust in God's goodness and purpose. Lamentations,
Speaker 3: Chapter three, verse twenty five says the Lord is good
Speaker 3: to those who wait for him, to the soul who
Speaker 3: seeks him. Waiting can be so difficult, full of worry
Speaker 3: and even anxiety, but there is a better way. When
Speaker 3: we wait with the spirit, we can lean into patience, peace, gentleness,
Speaker 3: and hope. If you are in a season of waiting,
Speaker 3: I invite you to rest in it. Rest requires trust,
Speaker 3: letting go, and opening yourself fully to God's timing. You
Speaker 3: will hear more about this in our story called Waiting
Speaker 3: for the Prodigal. You will also hear about the wisdom
Speaker 3: of the farmer cultivating new life and then waiting for
Speaker 3: that growth to sprout. And finally you will hear an
Speaker 3: ode to those in waiting and encouragement. Because every one
Speaker 3: of us will be in a season of waiting, none
Speaker 3: of us are alone. Keep breathing nice and slowly as
Speaker 3: you listen to this story about Waiting for the prodigal.
Speaker 3: Jacob knelt in the damp hay of the barn floor.
Speaker 3: Tenderly he comforted the mama sheep as she lay on
Speaker 3: her side, breathing heavily. This had been a long labor,
Speaker 3: and Jacob was concerned the little lamb might not make it,
Speaker 3: or worse, he could lose them. Both placing pressure on
Speaker 3: her lower abdomen and speaking calmly into her ear, he
Speaker 3: tried to determine if the baby had shifted positions. He
Speaker 3: knew if he just waited with steady pressure, the positions
Speaker 3: would align for this healthy new lamb to come into
Speaker 3: the world. When the mama seemed especially anxious, Jacob began
Speaker 3: to sing to her, an old lullaby of praise. Her
Speaker 3: breath returned to a steady rhythm, and she let her
Speaker 3: eyes close again. They both stayed steady, man in sheep,
Speaker 3: held in the moment, held in the stillness of waiting.
Speaker 3: Nothing more could be done. Time held them captive, and
Speaker 3: surrendering to the unknown was the only option. So they waited, listened.
Speaker 3: Jacob prayed Lamentations. Chapter three, verse twenty five says the
Speaker 3: Lord is good to those who wait for him, to
Speaker 3: the soul who seeks him. They read the moments as
Speaker 3: though they were stops along a map, one leading to
Speaker 3: the next. Mama sheep shifted, Jacob held his hand firmly
Speaker 3: on the shape of the baby. If Mama sheep seemed anxious,
Speaker 3: Jacob sang softly, holding a steady hand on her, and
Speaker 3: sang a soft lullaby, warm, strong hands, comforting, singing, singing, singing.
Speaker 3: Emerging from the barn. A long while later, wiping his
Speaker 3: hands on his apron, Jacob headed to the house to
Speaker 3: clean up. It had been a tedious night tending the
Speaker 3: sheep and a new baby Lamb, But as always, Jacob
Speaker 3: knew it was not a process that could be rushed.
Speaker 3: He had learned this in his life and always tried
Speaker 3: to teach it to his sons. His oldest son, Nathaniel,
Speaker 3: wanted nothing more than to please his father, which sometimes
Speaker 3: worried Jacob. He knew Nathaniel would do anything he asked,
Speaker 3: but Jacob wondered if his firstborn son made decisions based
Speaker 3: on pleasing his father, or if he held God's value
Speaker 3: es himself. His youngest son, Elias, had no such entrances.
Speaker 3: He was not concerned with his father's approval or Gods.
Speaker 3: He hated being the youngest, and even though both sons
Speaker 3: were now men, Elias was determined he would never help
Speaker 3: with the family's estate as he often retorted, he had
Speaker 3: no desire to be stuck in this place. Jacob's joy
Speaker 3: from the birth of the baby Lamb faded as he
Speaker 3: made his way across the open fields to his house.
Speaker 3: He looked across all the land he had accumulated, the
Speaker 3: rolling hills and graceful valleys, the wide, clear water stream
Speaker 3: that flowed like a ribbon through the large harvest fields.
Speaker 3: This morning, a light mist hovered over the land. Droplets
Speaker 3: fell from the variegated green leaves of the trees and crops.
Speaker 3: Jacob could hear the livestock stirring bulls and milking cows
Speaker 3: scattered across the eastern fields. Sheep and goats filled the
Speaker 3: barns and barnyards. The chicken yards were alive, with hens
Speaker 3: clucking and the boisterous rooster making his indignance known as
Speaker 3: the servants collected eggs. Jacob's farm hands were already hard
Speaker 3: at work tending the long rows of crops. On top
Speaker 3: of Sunrise Hill stood Nathaniel's home, large but simple and
Speaker 3: immaculately kept. The vesper rays rising from the horizon al
Speaker 3: illuminated it every morning. Adjacent to Sunrise Hill was Elias's
Speaker 3: unfinished home, all the materials neatly stacked, and the grounds cleared.
Speaker 3: Like Jacob, it too, waited for Elias's return. Deep wells
Speaker 3: stood at the corner of each lot of land, and
Speaker 3: Jacob's own grand home kept watch over the valley and fields.
Speaker 3: He built his house with courtyards and servants quarters as
Speaker 3: nice as the rest of the house, because he honored
Speaker 3: the servants and wanted them to have comfortable lives as well. Yes,
Speaker 3: he had worked his whole life to create this estate
Speaker 3: and the family's business, so his sons and their families
Speaker 3: would have an inherentitants. He would trade it all to
Speaker 3: have Elias home again. And maybe he had traded it all.
Speaker 3: Maybe giving Elias all he asked the equivalent of his
Speaker 3: inheritance was a mistake. Jacob shook his head to clear
Speaker 3: the thought. Then he glanced down the long dusty road
Speaker 3: that led to the caravan pass, the last place he
Speaker 3: saw his son before he walked away. The only bag
Speaker 3: Elias bore, rimmed with his inherited wealth. It was so
Speaker 3: very long ago, hope was waning. Where could he be?
Speaker 3: How long would he be gone? Would he ever return?
Speaker 3: Words not yet written to a church in Rome flitted
Speaker 3: through his mind. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction,
Speaker 3: faithful in prayer. God, I know you are watching over
Speaker 3: my son, Jacob prayed. I know he is yours before
Speaker 3: he is mine. You have always taught me to be patient,
Speaker 3: to trust you in the waiting. But God, this is
Speaker 3: so much more than waiting for a baby lamb to
Speaker 3: be born at the right moment. He paused, having heard
Speaker 3: his own words, Yes, I see at the right moment.
Speaker 3: Help me wait for the right moment to embrace my
Speaker 3: son again and him with all the grace that you
Speaker 3: faithfully love me. With words from the prophet Jeremiah entered
Speaker 3: his mind. The Lord is good to those who wait
Speaker 3: for him, to the soul who seeks him. Lost in
Speaker 3: his conversation with God, Jacob had nearly made his way
Speaker 3: up the hill to the main house without even realizing it.
Speaker 3: Before he entered the north facing courtyard, he glanced back
Speaker 3: out of habit toward the long, dusty road that led
Speaker 3: to the caravan pass. Something caught his eye. The morning
Speaker 3: mist was beginning to clear, but the silhouette was too
Speaker 3: far away to fully make out. He squinted to get
Speaker 3: a better view, but there was no way to clearly
Speaker 3: see from that distance. Then Jacob realized he didn't need
Speaker 3: to see. His heart knew his heart knew the moment
Speaker 3: had come. Jacob hiked up his robes and ran as
Speaker 3: fast as his legs could carry him across the fields,
Speaker 3: past the barnes, through the valley to the long dusty road.
Speaker 3: The weariness of being up all night disappeared. The waiting
Speaker 3: was over. His son was home. Oh, how they would celebrate.
Speaker 3: The view from the main house looked out on this scene,
Speaker 3: a weary traveler slowly dragging himself up the lane as
Speaker 3: an old man sprinting like a teenager, waiting for just
Speaker 3: this moment closed in. Jacob's arms were flung wide as
Speaker 3: he ran the last few strides, not slowing for a moment,
Speaker 3: he tackle hugged the traveler. The silhouettes against the morning
Speaker 3: sky were of two men melting into one another as
Speaker 3: they wholly embraced. Please let me pray for you one
Speaker 3: last time. God, You are our true salvation. In every way,
Speaker 3: you rescue us again and again. You sustain us, even
Speaker 3: when we do not realize it until looking back. We
Speaker 3: are to light, to be yours, and to know your love.
Speaker 3: Bless my friend, as they sleep. Help them stay steady
Speaker 3: and aware of your nearness as they're waiting unfolds. Help
Speaker 3: them slip their hand into yours, holding tightly until their
Speaker 3: dawn of understanding and resolution arrives. I know you have
Speaker 3: such good gifts a head for them. It's in Jesus' name,
Speaker 3: I pray, Amen, thank you for joining me for this
Speaker 3: sleep story. I hope you were comforted by it. The
Speaker 3: father waited in hope for his wandering child, carrying on
Speaker 3: with his days until he was finally reunited with his son.
Speaker 3: We do not always know what God's answer will be,
Speaker 3: but we always know He is the weaver of circumstances
Speaker 3: and the healer of hearts, and he is always looking
Speaker 3: out for us. We simply need to be still to
Speaker 3: rest in the waiting. Remember Lamentations, Chapter three, verse twenty five.
Speaker 3: The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
Speaker 3: to the soul who seeks him