If it wasn't her might or power, what would allow Grace Hopper to achieve such unprecedented success–especially for a woman–in the mid 1900s? The same thing that allows us success today–the ability to actively wait on God. Unfortunately, when we are honest with ourselves, we recognize that our problems in life are usually compounded by our refusal to wait them out. And sometimes the problem is that our stubbornness and impatience overcomes the still, small voice of the Lord.

In Isaiah 55:8-9, however, the Lord is very clear that what we think is a resolution many times may not be: "'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' declares the Lord. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.'" God's control over all things and understanding of all things means His solution to a dilemma is not what we would normally prescribe.

A clock that hung in Grace Hopper's Naval office, according to the Invention Connection, conveys that success depends on our willingness to look beyond our own ideas and wait for God's solutions. The clock read, "Most problems have more than one solution."

What problem are you facing today? Is it a job that you need? Maybe it's a health concern for which you don't have the answer. No matter what your problem, the solution is under God's control, and will be displayed in His timing.

Psalm 46:10 says, "Cease striving, (or let go) and know that I am God." What is it that God is calling you to let go of today? Ask Him to reveal it to you.

The first step in waiting actively on the Lord is confessing that only He knows what lies before you, and only He can prescribe the treatment for your ills. When you abandon your lack of understanding and trust God with your predicament, you give Him room to work not only in your circumstances but also in your heart.

November 2001 - By Brooke Redwine