It seems to be a universal human trait – we hate to wait. And waiting for God is the most difficult waiting of all.
It helps me when I remember that God’s timing is never arbitrary or careless. He doesn’t act ‘when He gets around to it.’ Every moment of my waiting has a purpose – for some reason, it seems surprising to us that the time we spend waiting has eternal (infinite) value for our good.
It's tough for us to do
If you’ve read Within & Without Time, Book 1, you might remember the scene where the young character, Jimmy, is struggling to trust God in the midst of tragedy. When he questions why God won’t answer their prayer, his mother shares a profound lesson.
Mom sat thinking for a minute, then looked down at her hands as she spoke. “I remember something my father used to tell me… ‘God always answers our prayers,’ he would say, with special emphasis on always. ‘We expect that His answer will always be yes, but He has a perfect right to answer with No, or Not yet just the same.’ I remember Dad explaining it this way,” she said as she looked at me, “a child who begs his father for the car keys might feel like his father isn’t being fair in denying him, but he’d be a pretty terrible father if he handed them over before his son was ready to drive.”*
The most important takeaway...
God uses our waiting to accomplish things in us that could not be achieved in any other way. His timing takes into account our most essential needs. He understands our human limits and frailty yet holds us in such high esteem that He waits for us to be ready before moving His own hand.
Sometimes we need rest; other times, it is repentant hearts, training, or maturity that we need in order to be properly used for His work. Sometimes preparation is needed in other people’s lives before God is ready to move forward.
"Spiritual transformation doesn’t take place when we get what we want. It takes place while we’re waiting. It is forged in us while we’re waiting, hoping, and trusting, even though we have yet to receive what we long for. Spiritual transformation happens in the waiting room." FaithGateway
If you’re struggling with a major decision or praying anxiously for God to do something that He promised you He’d do – here is His admonition: '...wait for Jehovah.'
"But they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint." Isaiah 40:31 ASV
The video below is an awesome collection of reminders of this truth. If you have 15 minutes to spare, it’s well worth the time.
https://youtu.be/TNIYnbj5edw
*Within and Without Time Book 1 (p. 77). Kindle Edition.