Teach Me to Wait

Waiting on God.  Who has time to wait on anything or anyone these days?  Wait on God?  If He wanted us to wait, would He have placed us in a time in history when we get everything now?  We want to read a book, we download it.  No need to go to the bookstore.  We want dinner.  We microwave it.  Ready in minutes instead of hours.  We want information, it is at our fingertips, 24/7.

We want it now.  We want it easy.  We want it cheap.  We want it perfect.

There always seems to be somebody that tells us that's what we can can have.  We can have our best life now.  We can have a new husband by Friday.  WE can lose 10 pounds in 10 days without changing what we eat or exercising.

There is someone who will tell us: we can have what we want, when we want it, the way we want it.  It tickles our ears.  It sounds good.  Too good to be true, maybe?

Ever heard the saying, "If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing well. If it is worth having, it is worth waiting for. If it is worth attaining, it is worth fighting for. If it is worth experiencing, it is worth putting aside time for."

That seems like an outdated way of viewing life.  Do we still have to wait, fight, invest our time for things that are important to us?  Or are we living in a new age and time when that no longer holds true?

What can we have now?  What do we still have to invest our time and effort in?  How do we know the difference?

We have one minute devotionals.  We say 30 second prayers.  Has God adapted to the 21st century way of life?  Surely he understands that we are busy.  Too busy.  We don't have time to wait on Him like people once did.

Waiting on God.  Does He make us wait on Him just because He can?  Because He wants to make life hard for us?  Or does He make us wait on Him because of the change it makes in us?

Could it be that God wants me to wait because when I wait, I take time to look at things that I normally rush past?

Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10).  Take a moment and regain a right perspective.  Do I forget that He is God?  Do I rely on this world and the things it offers and not on the One who created it all?

But those 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).  When I wait I will gain strength.  He renews me when I wait.  He prepares me to soar!

Waiting isn't sounding so bad.  Not grow tired?  That sounds good.  Growing stronger sounds pretty good too.  Being tired and weak seems to be a way of life.  Maybe there is a better way.

Jesus promised power to those who wait.  Luke 24:49  "And I myself will send upon you what my Father has promised. But you must wait in the city until the power from above comes down upon you."  I need his power.  I am certainly aware of my powerlessness.

Waiting isn't a stagnant waste of time.  It's a pause in eternity to invite the Almighty into my circumstances.  It's allowing the Creator of Time to take time to revive my worn out spirit.   Waiting transforms me from overwhelmed and defeated to on top of things and victorious.
 
Teach me, Lord.  Teach me, Lord, to wait.