Waiting in Faith

            Some of my clearest childhood memories are of Christmas Eve.  Baking goodies with Mom, family gatherings, my little brother thinking reindeer would fall through the roof into HIS bed while mine would be perfectly safe (right up until he was 11 years old), and who could forget the presents?  Each year they mysteriously appeared under our tree on Christmas Eve, seldom a day sooner.  You see my Mother is somewhat of a procrastinator in this area (sorry Mom), yet the gifts were always wrapped just in time for my day of torture.  That’s right, torture.   Boxes of green and red torture bound together with yards of beautiful, shiny, torturous ribbon. 

 

            Being a curious child I would immediately beg (and beg and beg) to open just one present.  Just one.  Naturally, my Mother would somehow manage to ignore my whiny requests until she finally looked me square in the eye and said “You’re just going to have to wait.”  

 

            Wait?  Wait!?!  What is that?  That word was so not in my vocabulary as a child.  Ok…so it’s still somewhat buried in the cobweb covered recesses of my adult dictionary as well.

 

            Today, I find that Jesus is much like my Mother on Christmas Eve and I am still much like that impatient child.  When I want something I want it yesterday.  I don’t want to acknowledge that I have the word ‘wait’ even hidden in my vocabulary, much less use it!   I often find myself trying to fix my problems only to have Jesus stop me dead in my tracks, look me square in the eye and say “You’re just going to have to wait.” 

           

I’ve learned many hard lessons by not waiting on God’s timing, as I know I should.  Because of this stubborn little streak I have, I didn’t receive the blessings I would have if I had only been strong enough in my faith to wait.  We have to be willing to be patient and look for God’s answers in many different ways in order to draw closer to Him.  Often we find ourselves at the end of our own efforts until we have no choice except to depend on Him.  Waiting involves trust in God. 

 

Webster’s dictionary defines trust as “placing confidence in something without fear or misgiving.”  Wait without fear?  That’s a tough pill to swallow in the midst of trials, but often the greatest growth we experience in our relationship with God stems from trials we face.  As tough as the trials are, the rewards are beyond measure.  When we act on our beliefs and humble ourselves before God, we find strength to wait.  When praying, don’t ask for patience, be faithful and ask for strength to wait on God.  Psalm 27:14 tells us “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart...”

 

            God has compassion for our pain because He loves us so dearly.  He will handle our situations and bless us in the process, but only if we have the strength to leave them with Him in faith and, yes, wait.  It’s not a question of will God take care of our problems, it’s a question of will we let Him?