Waiting

I’m not good at waiting. I guess you could say patience is not really my strong suit. We are living - now more than ever - in a world where things happen at light speed and everything seems to be at your fingertips. When I was a kid you had to wait until a certain night of the week for your favorite show - even if a rerun. Now there are all sorts of on-demand services that you can find pretty much anything. Plus you don’t even have to be at home because you can get it straight to your phone. Fast-food is a popular choice for every meal of the day. “Fast passes” have been developed at amusement parks for those who loathe having to wait in line.

While I don’t like waiting, what I’ve learned through the years is that there is a value in waiting. The stories of those in Scripture who had to wait abound. Noah waiting for the rain to come as he prepared the ark and his waiting on the ark for the water to dry up (he was on the boat for over a year). Job waiting for the Lord to bless him after all his tragedy. Abraham waiting for the Lord to give him the promised child (although he didn’t wait well). David waiting for Saul to quit pursuing him and for the Lord to establish him as king. The children of Israel waiting for deliverance — whether from Egypt, from various nations during the book of Judges, or from the Babylonian captivity. There were plenty of reminders coming from God through his messengers:

• “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14:14).

• “The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (Lamentations 3:24-25).

• “I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry” (Psalm 40:1)

• “Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not become weary” (Isaiah 40:31).

• “But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (Romans 8:25).

If you look closely you will notice that there are benefits to waiting. There is the trust that God will take care of it. And in that trust there is peace - “you need only to be still.” That trust and peace develop “new strength” and endurance.

You might remember a young man named Mac Jones. He was the quarterback for Alabama last year in their championship season. He is doing an amazing job as a rookie in the NFL this year for the New England Patriots. But he didn’t start until his last year at Alabama. He waited in line behind other amazing quarterbacks like Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts. As he waited he grew. As he waited he learned from those ahead of him. As he waited he learned valuable lessons that helped him ultimately succeed.

We, too, have to learn to wait. Just like planting a garden and trusting that the Lord will bring the harvest - we must plant good things in and around ourselves, and patiently wait to see the eternal results. The overwhelming message throughout scripture when people were being forced to wait was that it would not last forever. The things we have to wait for are temporary - but the benefits to our life and in our faith are eternal. So I leave you with the words of James:

“You also must be patient. Keep your hopes high, for the day of the Lord’s coming is near” (James 5:8).

Ben