Impatienly Waiting - Daily Devotional December 10th, 2009

Daily Bible Reading - Job 12, Nahum 1-2, James 5

Waiting Impatiently

Back in the day we sang a song that went like this, "waiting on the Lord, waiting on the Lord waiting on the Lord...". To be completely honest I hated that song. I hated it because I am not a patient person so singing about waiting and waiting and more waiting frustrated me to no end. As a matter of fact just thinking about that song is getting me a bit frustrated. I think that the thought of "waiting" is not something our culture embraces and it is seen in the church as well. Therefore we wait impatiently.

There are so many scriptures that deal with this principle of waiting and apparently it is all for our good. Psalm 27:14 says, "Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!" Notice the explanation point at the end of this verse it is either God yelling at us or excited for us to be patient (I do not like either option). James 5:7 says, "Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains". We have a hard enough time waiting for something we know is coming like a vacation, birthday or Christmas. So to wait for something we have no clue when it is coming is nearly impossible. This however is exactly what the Bible is telling us to do, to wait patiently for the return of Jesus Christ.

So what is up with all this waiting? Earlier in James 1:4 we are encouraged to "...let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing". It is in the waiting and in the exhibiting of patience that God works so many things in us. It is in this process that we truly learn to trust Him. It does not happen when we wait impatiently as we have so reluctantly learned to do as a culture but it is when we wait patiently on Him that we truly learn to trust. Job in his example to us in Job 12:4 became a "laughing stock" to his friends but as you read the verse you also see that in his waiting God answered him.

As a pastor I wish I could say I always practice what I preach but this is one area I along with so many others struggle. My kids are currently struggling as they have to wait to open the presents that are already under the tree. Every night they say, "daddy can we open just one present PLEEEEAAAAASSSEE!". My reply to them is the same every time, "no you have to wait for Christmas" and it is that promise that keeps them going day after day. In the same way I am impatient with God in many different areas. I am impatiently waiting for the church to grow. I am impatiently waiting for the financial provision to come in. I am impatiently waiting for my loved ones to get saved and the list goes on and on. Every time I get like this God does the same thing I do with my daughters, He reassures me that I only have to wait until He provides. And to be honest just as Christmas is here every December 25th, God always comes through and answers just in time.

I am starting to have a new respect for that song, "waiting on the Lord, waiting on the Lord, waiting on the Lord" as I learn to stop impatiently waiting and truly wait on Him and watch Him come through. The thing we must understand is that when we wait impatiently we get frustrated and angry because we want things now. On the other hand if we learn to truly wait patiently we have peace and assurance knowing that He truly will come through.

How about you today? Are you allowing patience to have its perfect work in you? Are you waiting patiently for the return of the Lord.

Tomorrows Bible Reading - Job 13, Nahum 3, 1 Peter 1

Dream Big
Ben