Estimated wait time
I despise waiting....
Waiting at the doctor's office....
Waiting on hold for a phone call...
Waiting for a train at the crossing....
Waiting for water to boil on the stove....
Waiting for my turn in a long line at the grocery store....
I especially have a hard time waiting for an answer to prayer that isn't coming on my time table. I think to myself, "I know You can do this, God! You can do anything! But it's not happening so the answer must be no. You can answer this prayer. You're just not going to, not for me." And then like a child being asked to wait, I get pouty and discouraged. I doubt, not God's power but rather my importance to Him. I forget that He's the ultimate loving Father who truly does know best and has my best interests at heart. Like any good parent, He knows that helping your child become the best she can be sometimes means not giving her what she wants right when she wants it, even if in the moment it breaks her heart. Because while He hates to see His children sad, what matters to Him even more is the state of our hearts.
I had one of these pity parties recently. There's a prayer in my heart that's been there for quite some time, a prayer that I have spent time crying out to God about but have yet to see answered. I had been doing better about being patient and trusting...or at least I thought I had...and then I just broke. I had a few moments of thinking "I give up. I can't keep putting myself through this anymore. It's just not going to happen. I have to accept it." And as I cried and felt sorry for myself, my husband lovingly reminded me of the story of Abraham and Sarah and how they too had to wait for a very long time for an answer to prayer.
At 75, Abraham (or Abram as he was then called) had been waiting for a lifetime for a child. I'm sure he and his wife had completely given up hope that this desire of their heart would ever come to be. And then God called...
"The Lord had said to Abram, 'Leave your native country, your relatives and your father's family, and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.'" (Genesis 12:1-3)
So Abram, being a man of great faith, packed up his family, and left the only home he had ever known for the greatest adventure of his life. He went to Egypt for a time and even fought and won a battle when the odds were far from in his favor. God then renewed his promise to Abram, but Abram and his wife still had to wait for it to be fulfilled....
"Some time later the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, 'Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you and your reward will be great.' But Abram replied, 'O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don't even have a son? Since you've given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.' Then the Lord said to him, 'No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.' Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him 'Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That's how many descendants you will have!" And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith." (Genesis 15:1-6)
Abram held on tightly to his faith. He had seen God bring him through so much, especially in recent years. He believed that God could do what He said He would do, but his wife Sarai decided to take matters into her own hands. She doubted her part in God's plan and hatched a plan of her own for Abram to father a child with her servant Hagar, a practice that would have been common and accepted at that time. It's easy to look at Sarai with my modern eyes and think "What were you thinking, girl?" And yet, I know I've done the same thing at times, tried to bring things about in my own way because I've doubted God's promises were for me. Sarai's plan did give Abram a son at the age of 86, but it wasn't the way God had planned, and it ended up costing both Sarai and Hagar much in terms of their relationship with each other and their own feelings. I also wonder if her doubt caused Sarai and Abram to have to wait even longer for God's original promise to be fulfilled because it would be another 13 years before God repeated His promise.
"This is my covenant with you; I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! What's more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them." (Genesis 17:3-6)
About a year after God renewed this covenant for a third time when Abraham was 100, Sarah finally gave birth to their much-awaited son Isaac, 25 years after God's initial promise to Abraham! Now that's a long wait!
When in the midst of a wait like that it can be tempting to be like Sarah, to wonder if an answer is ever coming or to question my part in God's plan and His promises. What I am slowly learning though is that God always answers our prayers. Sometimes the answer is a speedy yes. Sometimes it's a no, and sometimes it's a not yet. No matter the answer, there's always a lesson to learn. When God answers with a quick yes, He is teaching us about His provision and might and grace and power. When the answer is no, we must learn how much greater God's wisdom is than our own, that His plans are not ours but His are always better. When the answer is wait and see, He is asking us to trust in Him and is stretching our faith.
Father, may I learn to thank You and trust You in the times of waiting so that like Abraham I may be counted as righteous because of my faith.
*** Tree photo and sunset photo courtesy of my husband Craig. Engraving of God showing Abraham the stars by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld circa 1851-60
Waiting at the doctor's office....
Waiting on hold for a phone call...
Waiting for a train at the crossing....
Waiting for water to boil on the stove....
Waiting for my turn in a long line at the grocery store....
I especially have a hard time waiting for an answer to prayer that isn't coming on my time table. I think to myself, "I know You can do this, God! You can do anything! But it's not happening so the answer must be no. You can answer this prayer. You're just not going to, not for me." And then like a child being asked to wait, I get pouty and discouraged. I doubt, not God's power but rather my importance to Him. I forget that He's the ultimate loving Father who truly does know best and has my best interests at heart. Like any good parent, He knows that helping your child become the best she can be sometimes means not giving her what she wants right when she wants it, even if in the moment it breaks her heart. Because while He hates to see His children sad, what matters to Him even more is the state of our hearts.
I had one of these pity parties recently. There's a prayer in my heart that's been there for quite some time, a prayer that I have spent time crying out to God about but have yet to see answered. I had been doing better about being patient and trusting...or at least I thought I had...and then I just broke. I had a few moments of thinking "I give up. I can't keep putting myself through this anymore. It's just not going to happen. I have to accept it." And as I cried and felt sorry for myself, my husband lovingly reminded me of the story of Abraham and Sarah and how they too had to wait for a very long time for an answer to prayer.
At 75, Abraham (or Abram as he was then called) had been waiting for a lifetime for a child. I'm sure he and his wife had completely given up hope that this desire of their heart would ever come to be. And then God called...
"The Lord had said to Abram, 'Leave your native country, your relatives and your father's family, and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.'" (Genesis 12:1-3)
So Abram, being a man of great faith, packed up his family, and left the only home he had ever known for the greatest adventure of his life. He went to Egypt for a time and even fought and won a battle when the odds were far from in his favor. God then renewed his promise to Abram, but Abram and his wife still had to wait for it to be fulfilled....
"Some time later the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, 'Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you and your reward will be great.' But Abram replied, 'O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don't even have a son? Since you've given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.' Then the Lord said to him, 'No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.' Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him 'Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That's how many descendants you will have!" And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith." (Genesis 15:1-6)
Abram held on tightly to his faith. He had seen God bring him through so much, especially in recent years. He believed that God could do what He said He would do, but his wife Sarai decided to take matters into her own hands. She doubted her part in God's plan and hatched a plan of her own for Abram to father a child with her servant Hagar, a practice that would have been common and accepted at that time. It's easy to look at Sarai with my modern eyes and think "What were you thinking, girl?" And yet, I know I've done the same thing at times, tried to bring things about in my own way because I've doubted God's promises were for me. Sarai's plan did give Abram a son at the age of 86, but it wasn't the way God had planned, and it ended up costing both Sarai and Hagar much in terms of their relationship with each other and their own feelings. I also wonder if her doubt caused Sarai and Abram to have to wait even longer for God's original promise to be fulfilled because it would be another 13 years before God repeated His promise.
"This is my covenant with you; I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! What's more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them." (Genesis 17:3-6)
About a year after God renewed this covenant for a third time when Abraham was 100, Sarah finally gave birth to their much-awaited son Isaac, 25 years after God's initial promise to Abraham! Now that's a long wait!
When in the midst of a wait like that it can be tempting to be like Sarah, to wonder if an answer is ever coming or to question my part in God's plan and His promises. What I am slowly learning though is that God always answers our prayers. Sometimes the answer is a speedy yes. Sometimes it's a no, and sometimes it's a not yet. No matter the answer, there's always a lesson to learn. When God answers with a quick yes, He is teaching us about His provision and might and grace and power. When the answer is no, we must learn how much greater God's wisdom is than our own, that His plans are not ours but His are always better. When the answer is wait and see, He is asking us to trust in Him and is stretching our faith.
Father, may I learn to thank You and trust You in the times of waiting so that like Abraham I may be counted as righteous because of my faith.
*** Tree photo and sunset photo courtesy of my husband Craig. Engraving of God showing Abraham the stars by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld circa 1851-60
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