Wait. It’s a four-letter word in more ways than one.
I hate waiting.
- Waiting in lines at the post office.
- Waiting for a green light at intersections.
- Waiting for answers to prayer.
That last one is the worst. Waiting for answers to prayer. Especially when I know the prayer request is something that lines up with what the Bible teaches.
If it’s God’s will for someone to know Him, then why doesn’t He answer my prayer for that person’s salvation? Or if I’m praying for Christians to step forward to serve in ministry so others will have an opportunity to learn God’s Word, why doesn’t He immediately grant that request?
Perhaps it goes back to what Oswald Chambers once said:
“If God sees that my spiritual life will be furthered by giving the things for which I ask, then He will give them, but that is not the end of prayer. The end of prayer is that I come to know God Himself.”
The wait for answers is not just about the answers. Instead, it may be more about aligning my heart with God’s heart. My desires with His desires.
The longer I pray about something, if I’m asking with the right spirit, I begin to understand things in a different way.
The salvation of that loved one? I see God working behind the scenes to soften hearts in a way that may touch more than one life. He is also working on me so I won’t see that person’s salvation as another notch on my Christian gun belt.
The need for ministry workers? I see God using the wait to teach me to depend on Him alone. He is also using the time to teach those waiting that the opportunity to study His Word is a privilege not to be taken lightly.
Being a lady in waiting isn’t easy for me. I wonder if it ever will be. But as I wait, my perspective changes. I begin to see beyond my own desires to what God is accomplishing in me and in those around me for His glory.
How well do you wait?
Milady – wait thee well! Home from the conference this week and ready to run and yet – waiting on the Lord for all His direction. No sense in running ahead when the details of the race are not in place. Gah! He is in good company who waits with the Lord.
Joy!
Kathy
Hi, Kathryn! That’s the key, isn’t it? Especially after a conference. So many possibilities, but we wait on Him to lead!
In the waiting zone now… Yes, waiting changes our perspective of things. I hadn’t really thought of that. It also gives us opprtunities to refine our desires and mold them into His. And it keeps us from straying (or in my case running) off His path. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Oh, Bethany, waiting does accomplish many good things. Sigh. Yet I still struggle with it! 🙂