Hurry up and wait!

“Hurry up, you’re taking too much time, come on, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go, we only have so much time left, move it, move it, move it.” I found myself saying that to my six year old daughter the other morning when I decided to sit in bed and drink my coffee and watch the news instead of helping her get ready for school.  End result: It didn’t turn out to be a very peaceful morning! Ok, let’s be honest, patience is something that many of us struggle with.  Especially when it is not on our timing and on our terms.

Our culture has very much become enabling when it comes to having patience.  Everywhere you look we can access something quicker and easier. We don’t have to wait for much: time, money, stuff, and pleasure.  We have developed computer programs, phone app’s, and tools, all to help us better manage our time and our calories. Credit cards and loan opportunities come in the mail every other day. They tell you of their low interest rate and how you can make those immediate purchases now before you have cash to pay. Don’t have the cash or the credit, stop in at a Check Into Cash, so you can pay your bills on time.  Don’t want to wait until you’re married to have sex, we have condoms, birth control, and the morning after pill.   Maybe you want to get married today; well then, let’s go to Las Vegas and find the Elvis Presley Chapel! We can be married by morning. We have fast food, Kwik Trips, and speedways. You tell me, is patience hard to come by these days?

In this busy, hurried society, we begin to have that same expectation of God. We say, God I know You have perfect timing, but do we really mean it?  I know You are going to meet my needs, I know You are going to answer my prayers, I know You are going to bring me into the fullness of my purpose, but when, when, when…  There are many scriptures in the bible about waiting on the Lord, being patient, and longsuffering.  I remember hearing someone once say that we think linearly and God thinks multi-dimensionally. We say the shortest route to any destination is a straight line, but sometimes God’s best way to get us to the final destination is over the river and through the woods, so to speak.  It is during these times of waiting and patience, where God builds faith.

I didn’t realize how much peace and patience go hand in hand.  My common mistake in the past has been thinking I have missed my move because I have been waiting so long.  I know the promises God made me. I know the prophetic words I have received. I have a pretty good idea of my purpose and destiny. And when they weren’t happening at the pace I thought, I must be missing something, so I began to make things happen. Not even realizing it, I was creating an atmosphere of chaos and totally not operating out of patience or peace.  I would make a decision that would end up leading to another frantic decision, plan, and/or choice, not anywhere close too peaceful.   It’s interesting how the enemy tricks you into thinking that somehow “you” have missed something, and that it must be by something “you” do.  It goes against the whole “being” versus “doing” concept.

In the bible it talks about being anxious for nothing, but letting peace rule in our heart.  When the peace of God rules in your heart, you are able to patiently wait on the Lord for all things. Because you know that He is getting you to the final destination, you know in every situation He is faithful and He is good.  That He who has begun a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.  He knows your dreams; your aspirations; your desires, HE PUT THEM IN YOU!  It might not look like a straight line, getting us from point A to point B, but God is working on our behalf.  When we settle for our outcome versus God’s outcome, we put limits on all that He has for us.  All along the way and journey, He is building character, building trust, and building maturity in us and through us.   These times of learning to operate from peace and patience, pave the way for greater measures and greater capacities for the very things God has destined us to accomplish.

Regardless of what happens around us, in this one thing we must be confident. Let the peace of God rule in your heart. Let patience prosper through you daily. Follow peace and let it guard your heart.  Pursuing patience and peace will not only lead to happy homes, but happy and joyful lives, and a fulfilled destiny. “Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:3-4

Scripture References

Philippians 1:6  “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

Philippians 4:6-7  “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Psalm 27:14  “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!”

Isaiah 40:31  “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

I Timothy 6:11  “But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.”

Hebrews 6:12  “…that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

James 1:3-4  “Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”