Patiently Waiting by Randy Rowley 7/2/25 ©

It was dark and an uncharacteristically calm morning when I arrived at the Deloach Ranch’s around 35-acre lake near Taylor on the last Saturday in June – the 10 – 15 MPH winds that were forecast had yet to materialize.

I moved my equipment from my truck’s back seat to my kayak (named Blaze) and launched.  I paddled to the far side of the lake and started chunking my Lunkerhunt Prop Frog in Green Tea color, giving it short jerks, with varying pauses between jerks.  Over 90% of the bass that I’ve caught with a Prop Frog have been caught that way.

On my third cast I had a bass swipe at my frog, and another did the same two casts later.  It wasn’t until around four casts later that a bass tried to eat it.  After it took my frog underwater, I counted to two-Mississippi and set the hook.  But there was only grass.

I moved a few feet and tried again.  Bass kept swiping at my frog.  I attributed the misses to the bass not seeing it well in the low light.  I then moved around 100 yards to an area where the grass surrounded me like the rim of a bowl, and tried again

On my third cast I had a bass come out of the water like a great white shark breaching on a seal, but it missed my frog.  I tried again at the same spot, but the bass must have moved on.  I then cast around 10 yards to the left.

I started my retrieve and was rewarded with another great white shark-like breach, but this time the bass connected and took my frog underwater.  I again counted to two-Mississippi and set the hook.  I immediately felt the bass’ weight.  It ran into the grass and got stuck there.  I paddled over to it and pulled it up, along with around a pound of grass.  I cleared the grass, removed the hook, took a couple of pictures, and measured it.  It was 16” long – my longest bass caught on that lake to date.

I resumed fishing and had occasional swipes.  I moved around 200 yards and had another blow up, but didn’t have to wait to the count of two-Mississippi, as the dink bass hooked itself.

I fished for a few more minutes but only had one more swipe. I then moved to deeper water and switched to a Bomber Fat Free Shad Jr. 2 ½”-long crankbait.  I promptly caught grass.  I tried around a dozen mores casts but only succeeded in removing grass from the lake’s bottom.  I also tried a Strike King 3XD 2”-long crankbait, with the same results.

I then moved to the small island.  I used the standing grass as Blaze’s anchor and started throwing a white Blakemore Roadrunner with a white 2” Kalin Lunker Grub on it.  I slow-rolled the Roadrunner and soon caught a dink bass at the grass’ edge.  Shortly thereafter I caught another dink.

It wasn’t until my fourth hit on the Roadrunner that I caught what I was after – a crappie.  I put it on my stringer.

After the Roadrunner bite slacked off, I switched to a drop shot rig with a 6” Roboworm in Morning Dawn color.  I threw it out and slowly reeled it back.  On my third cast, I had a hard thump just outside of the grass line and set the hook.  The 13 ½” bass soon joined the crappie on the stringer.

As I couldn’t entice any more bites by the island, and the wind had picked up, I moved over to the dam and fished the grass by it.  I caught two more bass – one of them went on the stringer.  I also lost one at Blaze.

After that the bite stopped, so I called it a day.  I ended the morning with seven bass and the crappie, and took home three fish.  It was my best day of fishing on a self-guided trip in several years and, amazingly, 75% of the fish that I caught were caught on slow-moving baits.  For the first time in years, I had bass thumb.

A universal truth is we all spend a lot of time doing what none of us likes to do – waiting.  Waiting is contrary to how many of us, the ‘microwave generation,’ were raised.  We expect everything instantly – instant food, messages, entertainment, and results.

But God often makes us wait.  We might not see his plan while we’re waiting, particularly if waiting involves a trial or suffering, but God always has a purpose in our waiting.

The Bible is filled with recounts of people who had to wait.  The best-known recount is Israel’s centuries-long wait for the Messiah.

Much of the Old Testament is bleak.  It recounts the fall of Adam and Eve into sin, through Moses giving the law, through the centuries of Israel being incapable of keeping the law.  Disobedience led to punishment, which led to repentance, only to be repeated.

Romans 3:19-20 NLT says, “Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God.  For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands.  The law simply shows us how sinful we are.”  Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”

All of us are sinners, and no one can be justified before God by obeying the law or because of our works.  God ordained that the history of Israel would unfold in the way it did and for as long as it did, so that Israel would be a lesson for the rest of the world that no one can be justified by keeping the law.  We’re all in need of God’s grace.

“Waiting on God” describes a period of actively trusting and relying on God while anticipating that he will intervene or show us his will.  Instead of accepting our fates, waiting on God combines faith, patience, and seeking God’s will and guidance.

So, what must we do while we wait?

• Know that God is just, his ways are the best, and if we rush we’ll mess things up.  Isaiah 30:18b says, “For the Lord is a God of justice.  Blessed are all who wait for him!”  Isaiah 55:9 says, “‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’”  Proverbs 18:12 says, “There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.”
• Watch, pray, and expect.  Jesus said in Matthew 26:41a, “‘Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.’”  Colossians 4:2 says, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”  We should wait with the expectation that God will intervene or show us the way.  Never stop praying for God’s will to be done.  Never stop expecting him to act.
• Believe that God hears our cries and prayers.  Romans 8:32 says, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”  God gave us the gift of salvation, through his son Jesus; therefore, he’s able to give us anything else that we need.
• Immerse ourselves in God’s word.  Psalm 119:105 NASB says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”  Joshua 1:8 says, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.  Then you will be prosperous and successful.”  God’s word is illuminating – it provides guidance and the way to success.
• Put our trust in God.  Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”  Times of waiting reveal in whom we have placed our trust.
• Be still and patient.  Psalm 46:10a NKJV says, “Be still, and know that I am God!”  James 1:2-4 NASB says, “Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”  We must resist the urge to “do something.”
• Be courageous and strong and know that God’s grace is sufficient.  1 Corinthians 16:13 NLT says, “Be on guard.  Stand firm in the faith.  Be courageous.  Be strong.”  Regarding Paul’s ‘thorn in the flesh,’ 2 Corinthians 12:8-9a says, “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.  But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” We can be courageous and strong because of God’s grace.
• Seek the counsel of mature Christians.  Proverbs 11:14 NASB says, “Where there is no guidance the people fall, But in an abundance of counselors there is victory.”  Mature Christians may offer a perspective that we’ve never considered.

Just as I had to patiently wait for hits as I fished those slow-moving baits on the DeLoach’s lake, we must be patient for God to see us through when we’re in a season of waiting.