Patience in the Waiting
Imagine what your life would be like if you had received everything you wished and prayed for right away. What would you be like as a person if you got every gift you asked for, every relationship you hoped for, and a “yes” to every opportunity you pursued?
There’s a reason God often answers “no” when we ask Him for things. Not getting what we want teaches us patience and humility. We become more like Christ as we grow in these things.
Wanting something and then having to wait for it can be frustrating, but God makes that time fruitful as He refines our desires in the waiting. Sometimes we ask for a very different thing once we’ve had some time to think about it!
Cold winter months may seem to be a dead season, but as trees shed their leaves and “wait” out the cold, their roots go deeper and their nourishment systems are replenished. Like a tree with deep roots, time spent waiting is not wasted for those who belong to God. Waiting is a worthwhile time, if we seek to wait with Him. Even when it seems like nothing is happening on the surface, God is doing a good work.
Taking a weekly Sabbath rest might not seem “productive” in light of all the important things God has called us to do, but we can trust that He’s at work in those days of quiet, too. The Lord is good to those who wait with and for Him.
“And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue: and, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.”
Matthew 12:9-13 KJV,https://bible.com/bible/1/mat.12.9-13.KJV
“Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, And for his wonderful works to the children of men! Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, And praise him in the assembly of the elders. He turneth rivers into a wilderness, And the watersprings into dry ground; A fruitful land into barrenness, For the wickedness of them that dwell therein. He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, And dry ground into watersprings.”
Psalm 107:31-35 KJV,https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.107.31-35.KJV
“and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
John 8:32 KJV,https://bible.com/bible/1/jhn.8.32.KJV