Exaltation

And therefore will the Lord wait that He may be gracious unto you and therefore will He be exalted that He may have mercy upon you. For the Lord is a God of judgment; blessed are all they that wait for Him. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when He shall hear it, He will answer thee. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more but thine eyes shall see thy teachers. Isaiah 30:18-20 KJV

Exaltation was the farthest thing from my mind when our CMDA New York fellowship broke up into small prayer groups. I thank God for the heartfelt prayers that Randy Owen, Mona Pervil-Ulysse, and Mildred Clark lifted up for me then. I had been overwhelmed at that moment: saddled with battles, logistics and the never ending unexpected turns in planning to teach a course on "Counseling for Global Engagement" to a group of students in Europe. The course also involved mission and ministry work, and the spiritual warfare seemed endless. That evening we were facing the cancellation of a trip that we had worked on for over a year.

At this moment of great personal stress my CMDA colleagues and a cadre of faithful prayer warriors earnestly asked for the Lord's help on my behalf.

Surrounded by these prayers, this word from Isaiah 30:18-20 came to me as the key verse for our trip. As Isaiah foretold a message of calamity for the rebellious, he also spoke a message of hope and grace for the faithful: The Lord sometimes keeps us waiting that He may show us greater grace and mercy. Perhaps this is one grand reason why we are so often left to wait on Him. Consider the benefit: in the process of our waiting God takes calamity, orchestrates great things for His faithful and eventually He is exalted. In the midst of the struggle, God tells us He will give us teachers; in the bread of affliction and the water of adversity, He assures us that He will give us guidance and eventually we will weep no more.

On June 8, 2009, our class traveled to Europe and finally saw the rich blessings He had prepared for us. Our students shared Christ in a multicultural context and gained an understanding of the plight of psychiatry and Christianity in Strasbourg. We experienced the work of the nations at the U.N. in Geneva, met U.N workers who were believers and worshiped with them at the Church of the Living Savior. We ministered to the many nations attending church in the La Defense (business) area of Paris, provided workshops on anxiety and sexual integrity and shared in bearing burdens for ministers and missionaries. We were delighted by a counseling and retreat center that provided missionary care, community development for impoverished countries and ethnic reconciliation work for the nations. Finally, two souls were won to the kingdom of Christ and two rededicated their lives to the Lord in a Sunday service where I simply shared what God had done in my life and the gospel. This was worth all the spiritual warfare and struggle our team experienced. This was worth the time He left us waiting. This was indeed a cause for "exaltation." For what does the Lord have you waiting?

Elaine Leong Eng, M.D.

Dear Lord,
In our troubled times as we serve You, You sometimes keep us waiting. But when we think about the great things You are preparing for us, we ask for Your vision to exalt You even before it happens. For You are a mighty and merciful God. Help us always to be faithful to Your word, which is the teacher You promised to us, so it can sustain us with truth. And thank you for the many prayer partners You put in our midst to uphold us. In Jesus' name. Amen