BE WILLING TO WAIT

“And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.”—II Thessalonians 3:5

Life gives us no choice but to wait.  From the mundane to the profound moments of our lives, life gives us no choice but to wait.  And yet patience is becoming a rare quality in today’s world.  People complain when something does not happen on the schedule that they have in mind, or when some unforeseen obstacle prevents them from moving forward. 

 A newborn baby is not born with patience.  Patience is a characteristic that must be cultivated.  Patience is a spiritual fruit, which is developed over time.  “But the fruit of the (Holy) Spirit, [the work which His presence within accomplishes]—is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness; (Meekness, humility) gentleness, self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge]” (Galatians 5:22-23 Amplified).  Without patience and the willingness to wait, we will never become the people God desires us to be, or achieve what He has planned for us to do. 

Patience is essential for every part of life.  When the delays of life seem annoying and senseless, God wants us to respond with calm acceptance to moments and seasons of waiting, while trusting in His sovereignty over every situation.  These are the times that God uses to mature us.  Each time you feel impatience rising up in your heart, remember that this is an opportunity to choose a mature response rather than acting like a spiritual childish toddler. 

The ability to postpone gratification is an important aspect of cultivating patience.  In today’s world of instant gratification, the Lord wants us to follow biblical principles for living and aligning our desires with His.  The next time you are tempted to indulge in instant gratification, stop and ask the Lord what He wants for you.  Then wait until He gives you clear direction.

There are times that we must endure difficulties while we are waiting.  One sign of spiritual maturity is the ability to stay calm in the midst of the stress, hardship, or suffering.  This does not mean that we feel any less pressure, but in the midst of the difficulties, we know that God is working for our good—stretching our faith and molding us into the likeness of His Son.  We do not hopelessly accept the difficulty, but we stand firm in our faith in God. 

One of the words the Scripture uses to describe patience is longsuffering.  There are times when dealing with other people that it takes longsuffering.  No one likes to deal with difficult people, but we have been given a key how to respond with these types of individuals.  I Corinthians 13:4-7 begins by describing love as patient.  For years I have meditated upon these scriptures and spoken them over my life, and now when I am tempted to respond to a situation, or person with irritation or anger; I am able to calmly demonstrate longsuffering with the situation, or person.

Many times we may be tempted to take forbidden shortcuts to escape prolonged difficulties or suffering; but these are never the answer to our difficulties.  If you will study the life of David, you will see that although he had been anointed to be king over Israel when he was just a teenager; he waited upon God’s timing, and would not use human-will to gain the promise of the Father.  The principles to be learned from David in waiting are: He was willing to wait for the promise and stood in faith, displayed wisdom and sensitivity, obedience, courage, perseverance and patience (I Samuel 19-31; II Samuel 1:1-2).

A preacher once said, “Trust God when He puts you in the waiting room.  He knows what He is doing.

Prayer—Father today I choose to be willing to wait for Your promise of “best” for me, and to develop Your characteristic of patience, in Jesus Name. Amen.