“Waiting”

Written by Gail Rodgers

Are you tired of living a defeated Christian life? Why not check out this video.

He stood at the window waiting. All day he waited. At three years old, the promise of Grandma and Grandpa arriving consumed him. I could not distract him to play or to color or to ride his bike. He was waiting. His child mind could not comprehend the eight hour drive. I knew the time would go faster, be more enjoyable and maybe even productive if he left the window. Yet he waited…and it seemed to be agonizingly long!

I realized that I am often like that with God. I want to trust Him for an answer to my circumstance, my question or my longing. So I wait for His answer and at times it seems agonizingly long. And I worry.

Sometimes when God’s answer seems to take too long I find myself beginning to lose heart. Trust in my God can waver.  (“Are they REALLY coming, Mommy?”)  Fear and anxiety consume me as I wonder what the outcome will be.

God's Timing - Not Ours

"Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him..." - Psalm 37:7a

I don’t know about you but I hate to wait. Do you hate to wait? You know you can go and have an appointment at a doctor’s office, say at 9:00 am. You get in there, sit down, 5, 10, 15 minutes go by, and they haven’t called you. You go over to the magazine rack and you start looking around and all you find is a 1995 Readers Digest and it may be 1/2 hour, 45 minutes, or an hour before they get to you. I hate that. I don't like to wait in long lines at restaurants, being stuck in traffic during rush hour, or being put on hold by a computer. 

In our culture, waiting is a waste of time. But one thing's for sure: What we need to do is to trust God and be willing to do His will, in His timing, not our own, for the right action at the right time equals the right result.

So, what does it really mean to “wait on the Lord?” I’ll tell you one thing, it doesn’t mean just to stand still and do nothing, that’s not the idea. I know that is the way we wait in many areas of our life. We have to stand still and be quiet and not do anything.