One evening after a long day at work, I was looking for an auto-rickshaw to take back home. The road seemed very busy with peak hour traffic. The public transport buses were overcrowded, cars and bikes were speeding by and all rickshaws that passed by had passengers. I stood by for a while watching everyone head back to their destinations, with no signs of an empty rickshaw. After about fifteen minutes (that felt like an hour), I ran out of patience to stand at the same place and wait . . .
I decided to walk a little distance with the hope of finding a rickshaw sooner at the upcoming road intersections. I walked and walked, about forty-five minutes of walking along uneven roads with heeled shoes and heavy bags. About five traffic signals ahead of where I'd originally stood, I finally found a rickshaw that would drop me home. Phew! I was glad to sit down and start a much-desired journey.
After all that, I wasn’t sure if I made the right decision to begin walking instead of just waiting at the original place!
In the book of Genesis, we read the story of Abraham and Sarah. They were without children. When Abraham prayed, God promised Abraham that he would be the father of nations and his generations would be countless like the stars in the sky and sand on the shore (Genesis 15: 2-5).
But Abraham and Sarah did not see God’s promise bearing any fruit (pun intended) immediately. Every day was just another day. Weeks, months and then years passed, but there was no sign of the promised child. So Sarah offered her maid to Abraham to have a child with (Gen 16: 2-3). But God’s plan had been very clear! His will was for Sarah to bear Abraham’s promised offspring.
It was indeed a very long wait of about 25 years from the time God first promised to Abraham. Abraham was 100 years of age when the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. She bore a son to Abraham (Gen 21:2).
In my life, waiting on the Lord has often times not been very different. I pray about a situation and wait for an answer from God. But my impatience gets the better of me and I begin acting on whatever “appears” correct to my mind. I may have found decent enough solutions; however, I arrive at the answer with sore feet and aching shoulders like how I ended up in the rickshaw on my way home from work.
With our worldly wisdom, we come up with creative solutions to difficult problems, only to realise later that perhaps it was not the smartest idea after all. There is nothing that is impossible with God, we’d be much better-off waiting for God’s perfect timing.
I am also reminded of another person: Joseph, who was sent to prison for no fault of his own. He had a special talent--he could interpret dreams. While in prison, he interpreted the dreams of the king’s cupbearer and the baker. According to the interpretation of the dream, the cupbearer was to be reinstated at the king’s office. Joseph requested the cupbearer to remember him and rescue him out of prison. But the cupbearer forgot about Joseph (Gen: 40).
Joseph had to wait another two years until the king had a dream that needed a skilled interpreter. Then he was brought to the king, whose dream he interpreted. Eventually was made the governor of the whole of Egypt (Gen: 41). But it was an excruciatingly long wait in the prison, before Joseph could get to this covetously high position. When he was younger, Joseph was given a dream too - that he would be greater than all his brothers. In reality, that seemed like a joke, because he was abandoned and thrown into a pit by his own brothers, sold as a slave, sent to prison for choosing the right path and forgotten by a friend who could have rescued him.
Joseph served his term in the prison faithfully. There were no signs of his own dream coming true, but he didn’t find any shortcuts. He didn’t attempt to help God with his own creative solution out of his situation. He continued waiting patiently.
For a restless me, that is a very ambitious goal! I've learned that God will provide in His time the best solution, ONLY if I had the patience to wait on Him with faith on His providence. James 1:3 teaches us ‘that the trying of faith works patience’ – yes the “wait” period is certainly God’s gymnasium to work out and strengthen the important muscle called faith.
I have a long way to go in learning to wait on the Lord patiently with the faith that He will answer me. If my mind knew ‘when’ the answer would come, the wait would be simpler. That remains the catch . . . I run to him in prayer saying “Lord give me patience and give it NOW!" I need to learn to place my desires in God’s hands, believe that my time is in His hands and know that He will act at the opportune moment if I will simply wait on Him.
Time waiting on God is never time wasted.
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
This post was so timely! I could so relate to the incident you described about having to wait patiently for a rickshaw.
Yes, God never wastes our waiting upon Him. He knows our impatient hearts and He seeks to strengthen our faith. Thank you for this post!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Naiesha. God bless!
Regards
Vaniz
I frequently remind my restless self that "the most patient man always wins."
And God's not rushed or constrained by time, and I think that in these waiting periods He's wanting us learn to be only dependent on Him. I have experienced this situation a lot where I feel the need to act and am unhappy with how things are going. (Usually I feel the need to say something.) And I feel God gently tapping me on the shoulder and telling me to pause. Usually the Holy Spirit then asks me if I've prayed about the situation and the answer is typically 'no, I haven't really, fully, wholeheartedly brought this before the Lord.'
So He reminds me to do so and to frequently afterwards to just wait and consistently bring it up to God in prayer and surrender. I'm still doing that currently and I can say that I am looking forward with anticipation to what beautiful resolution God will bring about, that will glorify Him and not be stained by my clumsy, often self-centered attempts at a fix.
Thanks for the article; I really resonated with the line about it being easy to wait if you just know the 'when'. That's my issue, too. God bless you
Thanks much for sharing your experience Irina. This is so true and real :). God bless.
Regards
Vaniz