Learning to Wait

“I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He brought me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay; and He set my feet upon the rock making my footsteps firm. And He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear, and will trust in the Lord. How blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust...”
Psalm 40:1-4


Observation:
King David knew about patience. He waited for His promotion for several years. He waited for deliverance from His persecutors several times. He waited for the fulfillment of God’s promises in his life. But David’s greater accomplishment beyond patience was the attitude with which he waited. He was able to endure the emotions of frustration and despair that a human being often experiences in seasons of waiting. He was able to allow his heart to burn with pain before quitting in his hope. He really learned to wait. In the process of learning, David developed an attitude that we can all acquire, but that not too many people are willing to pay the price that it demands. Waiting requires extreme humility. It also demands that we surrender all our fears: fear to loose opportunities, fear to be lonely, fear to fail, fear to be hurt, fear to get stuck in life, fear to realize that we don’t have what it takes.
Once we learn to process these fears and humble ourselves before the Lord, we will become better in waiting for His blessings and for the fulfillment of His promises. David was persistent, not indifferent when crying out to God about His pain and suffering. He was honest to God as we can see it in his many lament psalms he wrote. But he didn’t stop there. The next day he did the same. He continued trusting God and enduring the pain of being humbled and incapable to do something of immediate relief. He learned how to do it for several days, weeks, months, even years, until the day when the Deliverer came to his aid.


Application:
Pastor Wayne Cordeiro taught me that the number one problem in young leaders is neither lack of vision, nor lack of passion, but lack of patience. We come into maturity by discovering that patience is a very important ingredient in the recipe for fruitful lives. In fact, patience is one of the aspects of the fruit of the Spirit that we often overlook. Without patience we cannot walk in the Spirit and we cannot live according to God’s will. Learning how to wait should be a priority for all of us, regardless of our age. We need to learn how to endure trials, oppositions, and long periods of time waiting for the hand of God to come in our aid. This is crucial for two reasons: it will help us to make optimum decisions and it will help us to heal from the emotional/spiritual wounds we are afflicted with.
First, learning to wait will cause us to avoid foolish emotional decisions. Immature people will allow their emotions dictate their decision making process. The worse time to make important decisions is when we are either in a low emotional state or in a high emotional mood. We need to wait until our feelings settle and then start thinking with a better attitude about our decisions. Second, learning to wait will guarantee that the healing oil of the Holy Spirit will touch our wounds in the perfect place at the perfect time. Knowing our wounds and knowing the medicine that will heal them is not enough. We need to trust the Healer to apply the healing in His perfect timing. We cannot become impatient, hopeless, and untrustworthy, when God takes time to do it.
Somebody recently asked me how to do it. My guess is that many times we make ourselves that same question, but we really mean is ho can we do it fast and obtain immediate results before everything falls apart. The answer is simple, yet difficult. We must wait! We must allow God be God and do His work the way He wants in the time he wants. We will never develop patience if everything we ask comes right away. In order to know the God that sets our feet upon a rock we must learn to wait in Him and to trust in the way He does His will in our lives.


PRAYER: Dear Jesus, please forgive me for the impatience of my flesh and for struggling so much in demanding immediate answers to my prayers. Please help me to become more patient as I go through difficulties with myself, with other people, and with the daily affairs that demand waiting. Help me to help those who need to learn patience and to give hope back to those that are ready to throw the towel. AMEN!