Are You Tired of Waiting?

None of us likes to wait, myself included. In fact, I caught myself doing it the other day: The microwave had 3 seconds left and because I couldn’t wait any longer, I hit cancel and took my food out. I then said to myself, “What’s wrong with you? You couldn’t wait another 3 seconds?” I guess the answer was, no I couldn’t. I had gotten tired of waiting, albeit for probably two minutes and 30 seconds!  It’s crazy, but I couldn’t wait another 3 seconds!

In a day in which so many things come to us so instantaneously (think of that Amazon package arriving the next day!), our patience for waiting has ebbed to an all-time low. You can sense how edgy people behind you and in front of you are getting on the supermarket line, as they wait to make it to the register. If you don’t move immediately on the green, the car behind you will not just tap their horn, but lay on it. And should the waiter take a bit longer than expected, we can’t help but get a bit annoyed.  (I guess I’m really talking about myself!) 

I’m afraid, the same kind of attitudes and feelings of impatience spill over into our relationship with God.  We want him to be for us an instantaneous God. We want him to answer our prayers according to our timetable. We want what we want and we want it now!  But if you know anything about God, he doesn’t have our sense of time and timing. He doesn’t always work on our timetables. He has his plans and purposes and his own timetable. Thus, it’s not uncommon that when we pray—as we pray—we more often than not find ourselves waiting.  It’s not uncommon for God to ask us to wait to see our prayers answered and his promises fulfilled. 

In the midst of a very difficult and painful time, the writer of the book of Lamentations wrote these words, “The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,  to the one who seeks him;  it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.” (Lamentations 3:25-26 – NIV) In the midst of a time when he would have liked an immediate answer to his prayers, the writer reminds himself of the virtue of waiting—patiently, quietly waiting. 

When we are find ourselves in a place of need, the very best thing we can do is turn to God, pray, and then wait, patiently and quietly. That means we don’t try to force things to happen. We don’t take things into our own hands. We don’t try to force God to act. Rather, we wait upon him and we wait for him—waiting expectantly, with faith and trust; believing that he is a good God who will work in our lives and answer our prayers at just the right time. 

Let me encourage you today to not give up as you wait for God to answer your prayers. Keep knocking, seeking, and asking. As you do, you just may find yourself being filled with new strength and faith, nearer to God than ever before, and overwhelmed by the fact that even in the waiting God is at work in your life. Don’t give up in the midst of the waiting. 

“…the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!” (Isaiah 30:18) 

Have a great day! 

- Pastor Tim Harris