"But they who wait for 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)
Have you ever heard that old expression, somethings are just worth waiting for? Or how about, just take your time...Don't be in such a rush...what's your hurry? Or the ever popular Rome wasn't built in a day?....
Why are we all in such a crazed hurry about everything? Why can't we just have a little more patience? Maybe, for some of us, a lot more patience?
I love to cook, I am boastfully 100% Italian, so of course, I love to make all sorts of wonderful homemade pastas and sauces with all the usual Italian suspects; garlic, wine, plenty of asiago cheese, and olive oil. I used to cook often with my extraordinary, petite, Italian, grandma when I was a kid. We never measured anything. A little of this, a pinch of that.. "just eyeball it"...she would say as the wonderful aromas would waft from the pot gloriously simmering something amazing on the stove top. No recipes were ever followed, to her cooking was just common sense. She made it look so simple. I never saw her take the easy way out, cheat a little and just buy the noodles, nothing from a box or can would do. She had no microwave or dishwasher, yet she took her time and patiently created fabulous Italian meals from scratch and with love every single day.
Admittedly, if I am ever planning to make one of her made from scratch meals, I assure you, it is a holiday or a very special occasion. I consider ALL that work to be a huge deal. It is certainly very time consuming for just an ordinary, everyday, meal. I want dinner on the table quick and the mess to be cleaned up even quicker. I lack the patience required to make such a feast on a daily basis, yet my grandmother created them every day patiently and without complaining.
What has changed over the years? We have become such a society of instant gratification. We want what we want, when we want it, and how we want it, and we want it now....
We do every thing lightening fast, we have drive through everything, fast Internet, even faster phone service, Instant this, quick that. We grumble and routinely complain over waiting even for the shortest period of time.
(Proverbs 14:29) A patient man has great understanding but a quick tempered man displays folly.
(Colossians 3:12-13) Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
We lack patience, not only in our everyday lives, but we have an even harder time waiting on God and His perfect timing when we are needing answers to our prayers.
It is so difficult to be going through a tough time when we have been praying relentlessly, quoting scripture, and just believing for God to show up armed with all of His answers. Then we fail to see Him at work and we don't hear from Him. We feel like He is being so silent. He is not answering our prayers. He's not showing up to help us."Where are you God?" we demand answers. We get so frustrated and discouraged because we feel like God is taking way to long! We even try to take matters in our own hands and tell God how to fix it for us the quick and easy way of course. "Well God, if you would just do it this way"... we even try to convince God that our plan is actually better than His. Our plan is faster too, who needs all this waiting around?
We don't want to wait and perhaps learn something valuable and important in our trials of patience. Learning those lessons sooner than later could catapult us to a higher calling, a new place in our lives, a much better place....One where we are gathered fully in our strength and ability through patient understanding. Our self discipline grows immensely when we are waiting faithfully on God. We are more peaceful in our wait when we sit patiently knowing that we have already prayed and now we will trust. We have asked, now while we wait, we can praise and thank God so graciously that His answers are on the way. Our heightened fears and anxieties begin to descend as we place our trust in God's timing.
God is always faithful and will always answer our prayers in His impeccably perfect timing. His answers may be decidedly different than we may have thought, for reasons only He knows. We must grow then in our wisdom and knowledge of knowing that He holds all the cards. He's pulling all the strings. We can rest then in our declaration that He is taking care of it all! He cares about every last detail of our existence. nothing is to small or to hard for our mighty creator. His righteous hand is covering it all! His way,His timing. We must gain patience while weathering these trials. God's plan will always be infinitely better than anything we could ever devise on our own even on our best and smartest day.
How many times in your life have you ruined something by rushing it? I have even ruined a whole load of laundry simply by not taking the time to remove a pen from a pocket. Doing things hastily typically will require us to repeat the process , this time correctly and patiently or it will cost us precious time and effort in clean up and frustration. Losing our patience is a test that when failed steals our joy!
That's precisely how God works! He's getting it right the first time, every time! He is behind the scenes writing the script for our story. He's dotting every i, and crossing every T. He leaves no stone left unturned when it comes to us, His precious children. Rest assured ,with a healthy dose of patience you will realize God does all things for the good for those who love Him! You will eventually be able look back and see that His timing was infinitely perfect. You will gain a testimony and a future reference when you have stood the test of time. We need to fully trust the mighty hand of the Lord with all things and through our patience and our waiting we will grow in hope and more importantly faith.
God is always faithful! He is so incredibly patient with us! Wait calmly on Him and with a good attitude. Stay joyful. Do not throw in the towel to soon. You may be so very close to seeing your prayers answered and your victory come to pass. Hang in there. God may not be early but He is never late....
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
(2 Peter 3 : 8)
Thank you Heavenly Father that through our struggles we will endure with patience knowing that your timing is perfect and you are faithful to always answer our prayers. We praise you in Jesus name!
Amen
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