We all piled into the plane, and no sooner had we sat down the pilot informed us we couldn’t take off due to poor weather conditions at our destination. Which fact he knew perfectly well before we got on. And so we sat there for another hour, wondering why they couldn’t have left us in the departure lounge instead.
Waiting. Who likes it?
But Isaiah had a different perspective: “From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him” (Isaiah 64:4).
It almost seems as if in God’s economy, waiting is a prerequisite to blessing. I haven’t got all the answers to why this might be, but I have several suggestions.
First, it’s when we wait that we become more desperate, and it’s often not until we’re desperate that we pray the way we should. So waiting drives us into closer dependency on the Lord. Paul felt so strongly about this he told the Corinthians it was worth having the feeling of a death sentence passed on him because of the positive effect it had on his walk with the Lord.
Second, while we wait and pray, we start listening to God more closely. We start reevaluating decisions we have made. God begins to change our hearts and reorder our priorities. Waiting has a tendency to bring us into closer alignment with his will. Prayer changes us long before it produces the results we’ve been asking for, and then the results are usually not what we started out expecting. How many times have we looked back and thanked God he did not answer the prayer we prayed!
Third, waiting “enables” God (to use human language of God) to bring into the picture people and circumstances that presently are not in play. We think our needs and hopes are the only thing in the world, but the truth is we tend to live in our own bubble. We’re not the “only game in town” as far as God is concerned. What God wants to do with our lives depends not only on things that happen to us, but on things that happen with other people. Maybe the spouse you’ve been praying for lives on the other side of the world right now. Maybe the house you need won’t be vacated for another year by its present occupant. Maybe the job you want doesn’t exist yet. God has the advantage of seeing the entire picture. And he has the ability to bring all the pieces of the jigsaw together in a way that benefits everyone genuinely seeking him, not just us.
And one final word. God is in the journey as much as he is in the destination. It’s by guiding the journey he ensures we arrive at the right destination.
And unlike our flight, he’s always on time.
His time, of course, not ours.
In the end, the wait is always worth it.
CONSIDER PARTNERING WITH DAVID & ELAINE CAMPBELL IN HELPING TO SUSTAIN THEIR ACTIVE MINISTRY.
AWAKENING MINISTRIES // FOUNDATION of FAITH Project
Foundation of Faith Project is strengthening generations in faith and bringing beautiful changes to the communities around them. Through teaching, mentoring and coaching, many are finding out who they are and who they are destined to be. They are bringing more to their world. David Campbell is the key leader in this initiative and you can support him financially directly through Awakening Ministries.
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