Take heart in waiting

"Wait for the Lord. Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." Psalm 27:14

WAIT...  If you know me you probably know that I hate the word Wait. Sometimes I think wait is a four letter word. Patience and I do not always have as good as a relationship as I know we should. If I know something in my life is going to happen or if I want something to happen I want it to happen right  now. I get so frustrated. I know this is supposed to happen... Why can't it just happen right now? Why do I have to wait? Isn't this the sort of attitude ingrained in our culture? We are taught that we shouldn't really have to wait for anything. If we want a hamburger we rush to the drive thru and hurry back home as fast as we possibly can. If the line get held up for whatever reason we get so mad. We got places to go. Right? If we want to talk to a friend all we got to do is send a quick text or email. It is ingrained in us that we shouldn't have to wait for anything, so we don't really want to wait. Often when I look  at the people around me they are in a hurry to get somewhere. Where are they going? That lady over there is in a hurry to get to work. That man over there is in a hurry to watch a football game. That girl over there is headed to a soccer game. That guy over there is just in a hurry;he doesn't have anywhere to go. He just doesn't want to wait. Why should he have to wait? Why should anyone have to wait? Why can't we have it now?

 " There is a time for everything and a season for everything." Ecclesiastes 3:1
As I said earlier, it is ingrained in our culture, that we really should not have to wait for anything.
Unfortunately, this is not the way God operates. He does things on his time, not ours. The beautiful thing about waiting for God is that his timing is  even better than the timing we have planned out in our head. He knows us even more than we know ourselves.  Therefore, he knows what is best for us and when it is best for us. "For you formed my inward parts. You knitted me together in my mother's womb." Psalm 139: 13. He loves each of us, so he has a beautiful plan and destiny for each of our lives. " For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord plans to prosper you and not to harm you Plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah  29:11. The way to embrace those plans he has for us to wait patiently for things to take place in God's timing and to seek his will for our lives instead of our own will.

How do we wait for the Lord? Since impatience is so greatly ingrained in our culture, how do we develop an attitude of patience and surrender to God's will for our lives?  This is not an easy task. Let's refer to the bible verse I put at the beginning of this blog. Psalm 27:14 says to wait on the Lord twice, but it also says take heart and to be strong. I think the verse says that because waiting on God requires strength and heart. How can we acquire this kind of strength and heart?

One thing we can do is ask God for help. We can ask God to teach us patience and to wait on him. (Don't pray this prayer unless you are serious. You mind yourself stuck in traffic often or at the longest Walmart line ever because God is trying to teach you patience)

Surrender your hopes and dreams to God. He knows your hopes and dreams. He is the one that placed them in your heart.  When you surrender your hopes and dreams to God, you are not giving up on them, you are trusting God and his will for your life.

Ask God to show you if the things you are waiting for are the things he wants for your life. Remember, if what you want is not in his will, he has a better destiny for you than you can ever imagine.

Ask God to prepare you for the things that you are waiting for. You may be waiting for a job, husband, children, or perhaps to start your ministry. Maybe God has placed these the desire for these things in your life because that is what he wants for you. Maybe the timing is just not right. Maybe God needs to prepare you, so that when you get these things you will be ready.

Read biblical testimonies about those who had to wait.A good example is Abraham and Sarah who had to wait many years to have a child, but when they did have a child Abraham's decedents outnumbered the number of stars in the sky.
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Remember that when we wait for God he has an even better destiny for our lives than we can possibly fathom.