The title of this post isn’t a mistake. I didn’t forget to put in words. That little semi-colon is very much intentional, and Biblically speaking, very significant.
“Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived.” (Genesis 25:21)
I have to credit my pastor with bringing this to my attention during a sermon a few weeks ago, but do you see that little “;” there between those sentences? That little “;” symbolizes twenty years. Isaac started interceding for his wife when he was 40 years old (Genesis 25:20). And he was 60 years old when Rebekah’s twins were born (Genesis 25:26).
Twenty years.
That’s a long time to pray. We aren’t given details about what those twenty years looked like for Isaac, and maybe God wanted it that way. Maybe God just wanted to remind us, thousands of years later, that He answers prayer. In His timing. In ways specific to our individual stories and our individual needs. My story won’t be like Isaac’s. My “;” will be known only to God until He chooses to reveal the other part of my story.
I looked up the meaning of the semi-colon on a grammar website. It said, “The semi-colon indicates a pause in the series. It is used instead of a full stop or period.”
On those days when I get discouraged, when the interceding and the pleading seem to fall on deaf ears, I’m going to remind myself that I’m just in a pause, not a full stop. God is doing things in the “;” that I just can’t see or understand in this moment. My story won’t be that “Sharon prayed.” It will be that “Sharon prayed;_________”.
I will wait patiently in this pause. Because I know that God is the author of my life and faith. He will write the rest of the sentence someday and that little “;” I’m living in right now will make perfect and complete sense.
The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him. Lamentations 3:25
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2
It shall come to pass
That before they call, I will answer;
And while they are still speaking, I will hear. Isaiah 65:24
Anticipatience 