Waiting

Sometimes I think that I should have this whole waiting thing figured out by now since I’ve gotten so much practice. But I don’t. I often want to whine and complain about waiting! Why all the waiting? Why, why, why?

A few weeks ago I read two different excerpts on waiting, both in the same week. These excerpts regained my focus….at least until the next time when I let things get out of perspective and need another good quote or thought about waiting to get me back in line. Thought I would share these excerpts with you today, in case you are waiting on something too. :)

The Power of a Praying Woman
by Stormie Omartian

I believe that we are denied certain things for a time because God wants us to fervently pray and intercede for them. That’s because He wants to do something great in response to our prayers, something that can only be birthed in prayer. Do you remember how Hannah prayed long and fervently for a child (1 Samuel 1:1-28)? When God finally answered her prayer, it wasn’t just any child who was born. Samuel was one of the world’s greatest prophets and most influential judges in Israel’s history. If she had not prayed so fervently, that might not have happened. There may be things that won’t happen in your life unless you are praying that long and fervently too.

If you start being consumed by the details of life, and it feels as if your future won’t ever be any different than it is at this moment, please know the truth is quite the opposite. It’s at these very times, when you feel as though you’re not getting anywhere, or you’re missing the future God has for you, that God is actually preparing you for your future. And when the time is right, He has been known to do a very quick work. While it’s good to set goals, don’t look so far ahead that you become overwhelmed. Look to the Lord instead. Remember that “the Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them” (Psalm 145:18-19)

If You Want To Walk On Water, You’ve Got To Get Out Of The Boat
by John Ortberg

Waiting may be the single hardest thing we are called to do. So it is frustrating when we turn to the Bible and find that God himself, who is all powerful and all-wise, keeps saying to his people, Wait. “Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him… Wait for the Lord, and keep to his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land.”

The ability to wait well is a test of maturity.

Paul says that while we are waiting for God to set everything right, we suffer. But suffering produces endurance; endurance, character; and character, hope. God is producing these qualities in us as we wait. Waiting is not just something we have to do to pass the time before getting what we want. It is part of the process of becoming what God wants us to be.

Waiting on the Lord is a confident, disciplined, expectant, active, and sometimes painful clinging to God. Waiting on the Lord is a continual, daily decision to say, “I will trust you, and I will obey you. Even though the circumstances of my life are not turning out the way I want them to, and may never turn out the way I would choose, I am betting everything on you. I have no plan B.”

Waiting is the hardest work of hope.
-Lewis Smedes-