When I Do NOT Want to Wait (which is pretty much all the time…)

Thursday, April 18, 2013 Posted by Debbie Legg

Tom Petty is right: In many ways, waiting is the hardest part. It is incredibly tempting to push ahead and try to make things happen ourselves. However, I have learned from much experience (and quite a few scars) that the damage I cause when I run ahead of God can be catastrophic. For whatever reason—simple impatience, resentment that God seems to be saying “no,” fear that if I wait too long it will be too late—I push ahead to my own detriment, and to the detriment of others.

I’m not alone in this.

God told Abraham and Sarah they would have a child. Over a decade later? Nothing. So Sarah took matters into her own hands, which didn’t work out at all like any of them thought. What followed was tension, strife, and jealousy. I think it’s safe to say that their home life was pretty awful, especially for Sarah.

How would their lives have been different if they had waited? Was Isaac’s birth delayed because they tried to speed the process along? What pain could have been avoided if they had waited? We can only speculate on these answers, but one thing is for certain: by not waiting on God’s timing they added significant frustration and suffering to their lives and the lives of those they loved.

I know this because I’ve done the same in my own ways. I act from fear, pride, selfishness, and leave a trail of pain behind me. Waiting. Is. Incredibly. Difficult.

But we must remember: the wait will be worth it. “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten.” (Joel 2:25) “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him."(1 Cor 2:9)

My advice (to myself as well)? Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. (Psalm 27:14)