Waiting

Has anyone ever told you, "just wait." Well, that's been God's anthem to me a lot lately. He says to me, "My precious child, I love you. I want what is best for you. So wait. Wait for my time, my plan. You won't be disseappointed. Trust me."

Let's face it. Though we might not think about it, waiting was the standard in the Bible.God promised Abraham the promised land. Now, you tell me, how many hundreds of years went by before that actually happened...but it did. And David...God told Samuel to annoint him king. But how many years passed until David was actually crowned? How many close calls on his life? How many times that Saul tried to kill him? But God fulfilled that promise too...after David had waited. And the Israelites in Babylon: God tells Jeremiah to tell the Israelites, "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place." (Jeremiah 29:10, NIV) 70 years. That's a long time to wait! But that's what had to happen because God's timing is perfect and He had plans for his people, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV) Though it might try our patience over and over again, we often have to wait to see God's perfect plan. As a last example, how many years did God have prophets speak of the Messiah? His coming was referred to from the time that man fell in Genesis. That's a lot of waiting! All of the "B.C." years, people were waiting for the Messiah. Then Jesus came into the world, He died and he rose from the dead so that my sins could be washed away and so that, some day (after a wait), I could live with Him forever.

God always keeps His promises. But He often asks us to wait. When my mom found out she was expecting a child, she had to wait nine months to actually see me. When I started first grade, I had to wait 12 years before I could graduate. When I got my drivers' permit, I had to wait before I could get my license. How about other things? Your first car, house, job direction, spouse? Did you have to wait for those things? So often I say, "God, I want... and I want it now." Then I look like that two year old in a candy store, crying because I can't have what I want or think I need. But so often, my God says to me, "Wait, my child. Just wait."

"Wait on the LORD;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the LORD!"
Psalm 27:14 (NKJV)