Summary: I, like you, feel I’ve spent quite a bit of time in God’s waiting room. I could write a book titled An Impatient Woman’s Guide to the Universe. I remember as a little girl, excited for one project to end, I went over to the clock above our piano and actually moved its hands--as if changing the hour and second hand would speed up time! Do you ever feel like things are taking sooo long in God’s plan for your life? Knocking on heaven’s gate has not yielded specific blessings or items on your spiritual hope list? But waiting on Him will never be in vain. In fact, I’ve learned that the picture often looks the exact opposite of what God has promised—like a film negative in a darkroom--before He reverses it and gives us the colorful, pixel-perfect product He is producing in us and for us. It’s when promises and inspired desires look most impossible that I’ve come to bank on the faith-fact their reality is likely nearest and most probable. So why the wait? I’ve three promises, three perspectives on waiting, and three hopeful thoughts for you to encourage you today. Promises First, three promises to soak up and hold onto: 1. “The plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of the heart through all generations” (Psalms 33:11). So, God knows what He’s doing and will bring it to pass. 2. “My times are in your hands” (Psalms 31:1). That is a spiritual stabilizer. 3. “He satisfieth the longing soul” (Psalms 107:9). What comfort—no right desire is in us that will not be ultimately satisfied. Perspectives--Why Does God Wait? First of all, He’s not wasting time. He’s too economical for that! He is: 1. Putting us in posture of dependence—the best one to grow to our potential. 2. Preparing us for what He’s preparing us for (I’ll explain!). 3. Paving the way for us to know Him. 1. Posture of Dependence Nick of Time God An everyday example: My daughter’s friends fasted and prayed for her that she’d have her voice back after losing it and practicing for a play for months. The day of the performance. No voice. It was as she walked onto the stage that her voice returned. This is why some have said, God is sometimes “a Nick o’ Time God” purposefully, to grow us. You can probably recall lots of instances when God’s answer came through at the last minute to test and stretch your faith and trust in Him. This pattern bears out in real, wonderful scriptural examples: Think of the widow of Zarepheth who was rescued when she had just a little bit of grain left in the barrel; enough for one meal. She thought her dreams, her life, and her son’s life were gone, but help was around the corner on what appeared to be the last day of life. (See 1 Kings 17:10-16). And what about Moses? It was when Moses put his toe in the water that the Red Sea waters actually divided. (See Exodus 14). Likewise, with Hagar: It was after she took Ishmael by the bush, and just when “the water was spent in Hagar’s bottle,” that God provided and called her by name—which means “God hears.” (See Genesis 21:12-21). God had forgotten none of these people and had pre-planned provisions, miracles for each of them, and knew exactly where they were and what they needed. Even miracles take time. It’s in that space between them—when our own resources end and when God is all we have--that we learn that He is all we need. We come to know we can trust Him in our extremity. We know He is our sufficiency. In other words, sometimes God will, for our benefit, allow for difficulty to come at such an unexpected speed or level that we are compelled to acknowledge that all human help is insufficient. In lesser trials, we had that recourse, maybe, of relying more on ourselves, or thinking we can manage or handle it alone, but we come to a point where we must cast ourselves on our all-powerful God and Savior. I’ve noticed more and more recently that God will always get me to a place of dependence on Him—whether in a new opportunity,
