Waiting

Reflections by the Sea © Betsy Ore Glass
January 17, 2008

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. -Psalm 27:14 NIV

We are all waiting for something and that includes even the sea gulls that sit on pilings waiting for their next meal! Waiting has different degrees of intensity such as something as simple as waiting for a phone call or a letter to arrive, or as critical as waiting for the miracle to take place that we have prayed for. I must admit that I am not good at waiting. Is anybody? Like most people, I would prefer to have what I want when I want it! It’s the culture we find ourselves living in today that promotes immediate gratification. Our impatience sometimes makes it difficult for us to wait in the checkout lines at the grocery stores! But in our impatience to hurry our life along, we are missing out on God’s instruction. He uses waiting as a way to renew us, to refresh us and teach us. There is a reason that He makes us wait. If we sped through our life without time for pause and reflection, we would not grow and learn as we go. God thought of everything. There are lessons to learn along the way. He is our teacher and we are His students and He needs time to work with us. We can’t hurry God’s process. The hardest thing is to wait on God. When we pray, we want our answer now and He doesn’t always give it to us in that moment. The answer always comes, but it is when He is ready, not because we want it. If we begin to realize that we are complete in the Lord and He will take care of everything, it makes the waiting much easier. He is always in control. Our impatience and rushing around doesn’t line up with the scripture which tells us to be strong, take heart and wait for Him. Praying for peace and patience during any wait we find ourselves in will serve us and God better.