How good are you at waiting? I have to admit to never being good at waiting.
Waiting is an area many of us find hard to cope with. Even that great man of faith and friend of God, Abraham found waiting hard.
Yes, he was obedient to God in going out from his home to the land God showed him. Yes, he believed God’s promise to make of him a great nation, to bless him, and make his name great so he would be a blessing to many. Genesis 12:2-3.
Years passed and nothing happened regarding descendants, so Abraham (or Abram as he was known back then) took the matter to God who reassured him it would happen. Abram believed the Lord when he promised him the land but he needed a sign. Something tangible to hold onto. God gave it. You might think that would be enough for Abram. It wasn’t.
After ten years in the land of Canaan, Genesis 16:3 Abram listened to the voice of his wife and tried to rectify the problem of descendants. How often are you and I like Abram? Instead of leaving a situation with the Lord we try to engender our own solution.
God did not turn His back on Abram for this act but I can’t help wondering if this action of Abram’s delayed God’s promised descendant. Another 14 years passed before God made His covenant with Abram, changed his name to Abraham and promised him a son. Abraham was one hundred when he became father to Isaac. That’s a lot of waiting. Twenty five years of waiting. But what enormous blessing resulted from that family line of Abraham!
God never delays his promises without good reason. That’s something I have to keep reminding myself at present as my husband and I wait on God to fulfill his promises to us. Some time back we put our house on the market, convinced that like Abraham we were being called out of where we live to move to another place. We even found the church we believed God wanted us to attend.
God promised we would go out with joy Isaiah 55:12. So we looked expectantly for God to fulfill his promise. Months later, we’re still waiting. Not so patiently at times, I have to admit. Not without grumbling at times, though we try and pull ourselves up when the grumbles start. Not without Satan trying to sow seeds of doubt.
We can do nothing to solve the situation ourselves. The matter is in God’s hands. We just have to keep trusting Him, keep reading His Word and spending time with Him. Keep being obedient to His Word. God knows our needs. He also knows the situation far better than we do. When the time is right, He will act. Then like Abraham, we will receive the blessing promised.
What about you? Has God made a promise to you? Maybe you’re praying for the salvation of someone you love and nothing seems to be happening? Or praying for a change in your circumstances and nothing seems to be happening? Don’t give up. Keep trusting in God and waiting on Him to act in your situation. Praise Him that he has the situation in hand. Keep reading God’s Word, drawing encouragement and strength from it. Keep trusting His promises, remembering God does not lie. If He has promised, be certain He will do it. Trust Him when circumstances and perhaps even people around you try to convince you otherwise. Keep trusting and wait in faith for God is our deliverer.