Waiting Stinks

The Bible mentions the word wait somewhere around 106 times, depending on your translation. That's enough times to make this "waiting" business pretty relative. It doesn't make it any easier. 

I think about all the times I tell my kids to wait and it's extensive. I feel like waiting seemed easier when I was younger and life seemed to stretch on forever, but now it feels like time is shortening up and waiting feels impossible. It's not just the waiting that's hard, it's the not even knowing what I'm waiting for that seems so impossible. When I wait in line for a taping of a show, waiting is tolerable because I'm excited and anticipating a good time.

I should totally feel this way about waiting for God too, the Psalms are filled with it. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalms 27:14; We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. Psalms 33:20; Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; Psalms 37:7a, There's that word patiently, ugh. What I do, God, is wait for you, wait for my Lord, my God—you will answer!I wait and pray so they won’t laugh me off, won’t smugly strut off when I stumble. Psalms 38:15-16 I really like that one out of The Message, it's so sure. I could go on and on, Psalms 130:5, Lamentations 3:24, Hosea 12:6, Hebrews 9:28.

They all convey the message that waiting on God will bring great reward, security, and peace, so why is it so hard? I can blame society and our "have it your way, NOW" mentality, I can blame my humanity, I can even blame the devil, but really the difficulty in waiting is all related to my heart and my ability to really trust God, I mean REALLY, REALLY. 

REALLY.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; Proverbs 3:5. How many of us know this one? You know where it gets me every time? My own understanding. I want to understand everything, and the truth is, I just can't. 

So today, God, I give you my understanding, I give you my need to "know". I'll still want to know and I'll still have to keep giving it to him, and I'll lean on the 184 some-odd times, the Bible says, TRUST.