I received a call one day from a dear friend who really just needed to hear someone remind her of what she already knew—God is faithful to keep His promise.
Ironically, in reminding her of this truth, I reminded myself by prayerfully pondering deeper for hidden truth.
The real reason for needing a reminder is we dislike waiting. Would you agree that one of the most difficult things for us humans is waiting? Whenever someone makes a promise, expectations follow aka waiting periods. Waiting periods may be short or long term; however, the bigger the promise and longer the wait time increases the intensity of expectation. A simple example: a friend promises to pick you up at a certain time but does not show up as promised. You get anxious, right? At least, I do. Usually, negative thoughts launch an assault on your mind. You automatically think the worst! You glance at your watch every ten seconds. And, if you wait for fifteen minutes without receiving a call or text, you become frantic and panic.
For us Christians, it is equally difficult for us as well. Unfortunately, we react the same way even though we are instructed to walk by faith not by sight, and to walk in the Spirit so we won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh.
When we don’t wait on God in faith and consistent prayer, we become weak and an easy target for deception. When we don’t wait we concoct our own solutions to fulfill God’s promise for Him. Is that foolish, or what? Our impatience is detrimental to our spiritual livelihood! We become anxious waiting on the fulfillment of God’s promise; I know. Twenty-five (25) years is a long time to wait to have a baby, get married, get published, have an international ministry…all these promises God has personally made to you. Yes, it may be a long time to wait according to our time clock.
Newsflash.
God is definitely not using our time clock! Also, I should interject right here. We are admonished by Paul, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God….”
There’s always a process and a time of preparation before God births His promised seed within us—nine months minimum. (Somebody got that right?)
Well, who better to remind my friend and me of what we already knew when it comes to waiting on God’s promise? Yes, you guessed it—Abraham and his wife, old, laughing Sarah (Genesis 12). From the time God made the promise to Abram until Isaac was born, a lot happened in the process. It was the waiting period— 25 years! Sure, God kept His promise because that’s what He does!
Can I be honest with you? No doubt you know what I’m about to confess: “I don’t like waiting!” Be honest! Do you like waiting…in traffic, in lines (well, some of you love Black Friday lines, I’m sure). Nevertheless, it is necessary when it comes to God’s way of processing and preparing us to maximize our faith and fulfill His purposes. Sometimes, we forget it is really about God’s purposes; that He chose us to be a part of His plan. If we can just wait and be of good courage, the Lord God will surely do what He promised.
More importantly, what we have to remember is we’re on God’s timeline, not ours. There is a set time—an appointed time beyond our comprehension. Throughout Scripture we find phrases such as, “in the fullness of time”, “and it came to pass”, “at that time”, “in that day”, “at/in the appointed time.”
In addition, if we can learn to wait on God, we can avoid some drama in our lives as well as the consequences when we do things our way and out of God’s set time. What we should remember is that when we don’t wait on the fulfillment of God’s promise, generations will suffer the consequences of our decision not to wait on the Lord.
“Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!” –Psalm 27:14 NKJV
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