Glenda McMinn @ Finding His lap & Heartbeat

Do you like waiting? Not everyone enjoys waiting for something. Think about it for a minute, do you like to wait. The answer for most of us is an absolute NO!!! We hate waiting at the doctor’s office or in line at the Traffic Department or even for our Big Mac at the McDonald’s drive thru window. We just don’t like to wait. What about if we have to ‘wait on God?’

Sometimes we may be praying and praying for something and maybe we even get to the place where we are not sure that God even hears our prayers anymore! Waiting patiently is not the easiest thing for many of us to do.

The word “waiting” in the Dictionary means: to allow time to go by, especially while staying in one place without doing very much, until someone comes, until something that you are expecting happens or until you can do something. Sometimes the actual word ‘waiting’ or the phrase ‘waiting on God’ or ‘waiting upon God’ is used in a scriptural passage. The truth is that Waiting is one of the hardest things in our walk with Christ. Yet the bible is clear, just because you are waiting on your breakthrough, it does not mean that you are doing nothing.

I love what the Bible says in: Lamentations 3:25 The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. Notice the word “soul”. Have you heard the expression “heart and soul”? It’s when your entire being craves or responds. So many times in our lives we are having to experience this. And when this challenge comes our way, it is important to remember that we are not alone.

For when we wait, so does the Lord wait. Isaiah 30:18 says: “Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.”

Sometimes we are waiting on something to happen, a provision or person. There are times in our lives that we are even waiting for CHANGE to happen. Putting our trust in the One who has the answer is the best we can do for ourselves. There have been times in my life when I have waited or trusted. When the actual thing happens that I’m waiting on, I always end up having to ask myself: “ Glenda, is this happening because you expected it or because you trusted God without knowing the result?

How many times have you waited for or are you still waiting for something to change?

Have you been asking God to give you the patience you need while you wait? Are you seeking His will or are you expecting His provision of your need?

The result is not in HOW LONG you wait. I believe ANY result from God comes through HOW WE WAIT. Sometimes God changes our expectancy through the period of waiting. As you trust God He let’s you see what your actual need is.

20 years ago we were stuck in the middle of infertility. Waiting for a pregnancy. Waiting for something like this can be draining on ones belief, trust and relationships. Yet, in all our waiting God was waiting with us. Waiting for us to understand His purpose for us. 3 years later we held our baby boy on the Monday after his birth that Sunday night. An adoption had become the first option. Was that what we wanted? Not at first. But guess what. Gods option for us was adoption. Not for the baby but for us. God knew that 2 years later after that we would conceive. Just so He could let us know that He can do ALL things. This pregnancy did not last, but it did make it clear to us that God CAN do what we want if we wait. But that He can also do what we NEED if we wait on Him.

Maybe you are waiting for a family member to find Christ. Don’t just sit there and wait! Let them see how you wait as you faithfully worship God. Let them find Christ through your waiting.

Abraham waited 25 years for Gods promise to be fulfilled. In Hebrews 6:15 it says: “And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.” Phew! 25 years seem Like a long time! Abraham did not STOP believing the promise. I want to encourage you today to HOLD ONTO Gods Promise. What He has promised, He Will do. There’s an old hymn that says: “in His time, in His time. He makes all things beautiful in His time”

How long do you want to wait?

Woodrow T. Wilson says: “All things come to him who waits – provided he knows what he is waiting for.”

Sarah Ban Breathnach says: Whatever we are waiting for — peace of mind, contentment, grace, the inner awareness of simple abundance — it will surely come to us, but only when we are ready to receive it with an open and grateful heart.

John Ortberg says it so clearly: Biblically, waiting is not just something we have to do until we get what we want. Waiting is part of the process of becoming what God wants us to be.     

When we wait we are watching. Keeping our eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfect or of our faith is the greatest thing we can do for ourselves. He is with us when we start and he’s with us through the process until the end.