Waiting

There are certain situations and circumstances in life that make the process of waiting hard and maybe even unbearable, or at the very least, frustrating. Do you too find waiting hard? Just last week I was at the dental office waiting for my daughter to be finished with her yearly checkup. It was the end of the day with no other clients in the waiting room and as the time I had been informed that she would be finished had come and gone, more waiting ensued. As each minute passed I doubled the amount of times I looked at my watch as well as changing positions in my chair and of course, thinking of all the other pertinent things and places I should rather be attending to but couldn't. I had no other choice but to wait and it was frustrating.

I'm sure we could all come up with examples in life on the challenge of waiting. Of course, despite my frustration, I did survive the wait at the dental office. After all, in the scheme of things, this kind of waiting can be defined as nothing more than one of a hundred daily inconveniences we all face and somehow survive with not much thought after all is said and done.

But what about waiting for the bigger situations in our lives that fully depend on God to work? For example, when waiting for "Mr. Right, or waiting for healing either spiritual, physical or relational, or waiting for God's direction or confirmation?

Waiting on God to work in whatever situation we might be facing today is challenging. Oswald Chambers in his book "My Utmost for His Highest" stated; "One of the greatest stresses 'in life' is the stress of waiting on God." I believe waiting on God challenges my limited understanding of His ways and also challenges my desire to get out of a waiting situation by any human means possible.

I'm waiting on God concerning a couple situations in my own life and just as I had no choice but to wait in that dental office, I also find myself with no choice but to wait on God to do His work in His way and in His time. So the question for me is; how do I respond in a right way when waiting on God?

I'm drawn to the encouragement of God's Word that commands I wait. Psalms 27:14; "Wait for the Lord, be strong." and 37:34; "Wait for the Lord and keep his way." and 62:5; "God alone, O my soul, wait in silence." Obedience to His command to wait allows God the opportunity to provide me with His all-sufficient grace, peace and strength to wait. And I really don't want to miss the blessing of all God promises to be for me!

I also need to respond in the right way when waiting on God by trusting Him completely in the process. The longer I find myself waiting, the more tempted I am to doubt God's purpose in having me wait and then determine in my own strength to work my way out of that waiting. Can I trust Him to complete that good work in me, even when part of that good work requires waiting on Him?

Waiting is hard but may we be encouraged today in the knowledge that our good and faithful God has a perfect purpose and plan to the waiting He allows in our lives and that ultimately by it, His good work will be completed in me and in you!

"But they who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31 ESV)