THERE are few things that get on my nerves like waiting. I could never work at a restaurant because I'm not a good waiter. Oh wait, that's a whole different kind of waiting. It is clear that God knows I'm not good at waiting because He gives me plenty of opportunities to wait, like with doctors and traffic. Whenever Joani has a Doctor's appointment she usually breezes right through. But me, I'll have about an hour in the little waiting room (aptly named) to rummage through the drawers in the room and fiddle with all the Doctor's stuff. Joani always tells me that God is trying to teach me something. To which I say, "Yeah, like finding another Doctor". It is the same with traffic - I typically fight it (like it's a contest). Joani just drives, trusting she will make it to her destination on time. By the way, Joani can annoy me too, especially in the way she handles waiting. LAMENTATIONS 3:26 says, "It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." Jeremiah uses the word 'GOOD', meaning it's best or better when waiting, to do so quietly. Right away I am in trouble because I do very few things quietly. I make noises, and lots of them. I talk to myself, actually, to 'Fritz', my alter ego, or I pace around, and not softly I might add, it's more like stomping. Now at this time you might be thinking your pastor is a few bricks shy of a full load, and you may be right, especially when it comes to waiting - it REALLY annoys me. QUIETLY we are to wait for the Lord. At least it's good to do so. Obviously, 'quietly' means to be silent. But it also means to be still, at rest and at peace. From a different angle, 'quietly' means to cease from struggle and striving, or to cut (off or out). A lot of times when I am waiting, not quietly, as per norm, I know Joani would love it if I would just "cut it out". You know how I know? Because she tells me.
NOT waiting 'quietly' would be: To stomp around because you're not getting your way; whining, griping and complaining to everyone in ear shot.
WAITING is a necessary tool God uses to develop our trust and hope in Him for salvation from any kind of difficult situation we are in. David wrote in Psalm 33:20, "We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield." Hope is important because it is the foundation of patience (waiting). Without hope, our waiting causes anxiety. In fact, waiting flushes out our true self. The better we are at waiting for God, the more it shows we have complete confidence in Him. If we do not fully trust God it will be seen by our lack of waiting skills, or HOPE.
WHY we stop trusting or hoping for God's deliverance is usually born out of our pride.Impatience is really trying to take control of a person or situation. In other words, because what or who we are waiting on is late, we must take matter into our own hands. King Saul did this in I Samuel 13:8-14. The prophet, Samuel, set a time for Saul to wait for his arrival to offer sacrifices to God. Saul waited only so long before his impatience led him into serious trouble. He, a King, not a priest or a prophet, offered the burnt offering.
GOD promises to bring salvation in all our troubles, but He asks us to wait until He arrives. If "God's Got This", then we have to believe it is "In God's Time".
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