February 23, 2015

The Life of Faith

Waiting isn’t something we want to do. When we’re waiting, it means we want something now. Waiting is subjective; it’s nothing more than a feeling. Waiting isn’t reality; it’s our emotional response to reality. Just because we’re waiting, that doesn’t mean that something isn’t happening right on time.

In our very honest Scriptures, we find stories about people who had the opportunity to practice the spiritual discipline of waiting.

A married couple think they’re never going to have a child. Suddenly they are told that they are, and that they should wait for this event. The couple doesn’t like waiting. They take things into their own hands. The result? Four thousand years of family strife between Arabs and Jews.

A gifted but impatient leader is eager to get on with things. King Saul is told to wait. He rushes ahead and loses everything.

The young, moldable shepherd waits patiently on God, at least early in life. David is outside, in tune with the slow waters of nature. He’s content just to let things happen, to tend to what’s in front of him and not to try to rush things; at one point he writes, “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Ps. 37:3, 4). “Wait for the Lord and keep His way” (verse 34, NASB).*

As a young man David does this well. But when David becomes powerful, he takes the attitude: “I’ll have what I want when I want it.” The result? Another family destroyed; his own children a total mess.

When we refuse to practice the spiritual discipline of waiting, we can get into all kinds of trouble.

1. Not waiting for the right relationship. I tell young people that they’re surrounded by people who wish that they hadn’t rushed into unhealthy relationships. It’s better to have no relationship at all than to have the wrong one. The wrong relationship can and will ruin your life as you know it. Beware of being more in love with having a relationship than having the right one.

To those of you in the wonderful, exciting, frustrating dating years, remember this: When you have children, the primary way you view your spouse for most of your married life will not be as the boyfriend with the cool car or the carefree girlfriend in front of you now; it will be as the father or mother of your children. You may forget your spouse’s name altogether! (“Go ask Dad to help you.” “Go tell Mom we’re ready.”)

You aren’t just marrying a husband or wife; you’re marrying the future father or mother of your children. And the most dependable way to gauge how good or bad your spouse will be as a parent is to look at his or her own parents. Watch closely. Choose carefully.

2. Not waiting for the right opportunity. Be careful what you get yourself into. When it comes to your line of work or study, you should be as careful and comfortable with what you choose to do as whom you choose to live with. Some of us have learned this the hard way, striving for something for which we’re not naturally suited.

I asked a group of students to name something that they’re so naturally good at that people remark how easy they make it look. The answers were interesting: running electronic equipment, fixing someone’s hair, coordinating an event, taking care of people. How would you answer this question? What are you so naturally good at that you make it look easy? If God has gifted you, wait for opportunities that align with your gifts, rather than forcing the wrong opportunities.

3. Not Waiting for God. We love to quote Jeremiah 29:11—“For I know the plans I have for you . . .”—because we love thinking about what’s next. But just before verse 11, God says to settle down and plant gardens in Babylon. That’s our job: to do our best where He’s placed us now, while we wait for what’s next.


* Scripture quotations marked NASB are from the New American Standard Bible, copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

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