Waiting is not my specialty.  I can do it, but it’s not something that I’m great at.  I’m easily annoyed by stoplights that are longer than I think they should be.  I get frustrated when people take FOREVER in the check out line (are you REALLY writing a check?!?), and making me wait in the drive-through line is just sinister.  I just don’t like to wait.

Part of this is from our culture of immediacy, where we can get anything and everything that we need on our smartphones in about .5 seconds.  We can reheat dinner in 2 minutes thanks to a microwave.  I can “rent” a movie by just clicking an option with the remote, and within seconds it’s there.  It’s difficult to be good at something, (and even more difficult to like it) if I never have to do it.

A few weeks ago, my pastor was preaching about how the anointing changes us, but that also how part of how we are changed is through having to wait.  Learning to endure.  Developing patience and in some cases, long suffering.  There’s a perseverance that comes only from having to wait something out, or see a process through until the end.

I thought about this some more this morning, after having a conversation with Preacherman.  Usually our four-year old is okay with the time it takes for her Daddy to come get her from bed in the morning and she doesn’t call out for him to get her.  But this morning, our conversation was a little longer, and she called out to him.  I encouraged him to wait just a little longer, and not to move immediately, because we’re working on developing her patience.  He asked if I wanted him to wait until she called out again with more urgency (her “urgency” call outs are HILARIOUS, and we’re not abusing the child, we can totally distinguish between fake urgency and real urgency #justsaying).  I thought that would be a good idea (and a funny start to the morning).

As Preacherman got up, I began to think about how God makes us wait.  If you follow me on Twitter, you probably saw this stream of consciousness.  But here’s what I’ve learned about having to wait:

1. When you call out to God and He doesn’t respond, it doesn’t mean that He’s not there or that He’s not listening.  Sometimes God waits to respond to us because he needs for something to develop IN us that can only happen through us having to wait.
2. We have to remember to “let perseverance finish its’ perfect work so that we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.“
3. When we don’t immediately receive what we’ve been asking for, we appreciate it more.
4. You learn how strong you are and how much willpower you have when you have to wait for something that has been promised.
5. You gain the ability to see things from a totally different perspective when you don’t immediately receive what you’ve been believing for.

Even though we don’t LIKE to wait, there are advantages to it.  Oftentimes, we don’t pay attention to the advantages of waiting and instead become bitter by the process.  But if we allow it to happen, we can become empowered by the wait.  There are some things that I’ve been believing God for since I got saved nearly 10 years ago that have not yet come to pass.  But I’m still waiting and believing.  And I’m empowered because I’ve seen how God has worked in the lives of others, and how He has answered other prayers that I’ve had.  He is faithful and He ALWAYS keeps His promises.

“God is not human, that he should lie,not a human being, that he should change his mind.  Does he speak and then not act?  Does he promise and not fulfill?” – Numbers 23:19

Be encouraged!  Peace and Blessings!