“The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.” - Lamentations 3:25
I am not sure about you, but patience is not my middle name. Especially living in our American culture of instant gratification. Our consumeristic society says that if we want something, we should have it and have it immediately. I know that I wrestle with this in my spiritual life, especially when God has called me to wait.
Recently, I was sharing with some friends about some of the difficult things that I have been dealing with and walking through in my life. I told them how I have been praying for very specific things, and how it felt like I was beating on closed doors. I said that it felt like I had been kicking, screaming, and throwing a temper tantrum, like the child of God that I know that I am. My friends thought that this was a funny way to describe how I have felt about my prayer life. Although, lately it really has been a challenge to not get frustrated, upset, or discouraged when God says, not yet.
I am not saying that we should stop asking God for things when it seems like we are constantly asking. In fact, I believe God wants us to keep asking Him for the things we want to see happen in our lives, because He wants good things for us. Lamentations 3:25 speaks not to a passive waiting, but to an active waiting. The verse calls us to seek the LORD in our waiting. We should continue to pray, seek, ask, and knock as we wait. While also not letting the waiting frustrate or make us angry. Sometimes God makes us wait for the perfect opportunity that He has planned for us. Often we can’t see why, or may not know why God has us wait, but looking back on the times in my life when God has been faithful, I’m learning that His timing is intentional.
As I continue to wait for God to open doors in my life and bring changes to the situations that I face, I will continue to pray for opportunities. Sometimes we have to pray for things constantly before we ever get an answer. There are multiple verses in the Bible that say we should pray and ask. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 simply says, “pray without ceasing,”. So when I am still waiting for the storms of life to pass, I will keep bringing my concerns, my hopes, and my desires to the feet of Jesus and wait on Him. For I know, “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’” - Lamentations 3:22-24.
Comments