Waiting

Waiting is so hard. And it is so hard to pray when you are waiting. You keep praying and praying and waiting and waiting, but it seems as if nothing ever happens. (And I'm not talking about praying for patience: that is a bear in and of itself.) I have really thought a lot lately about what it means to wait on God. To wait on Him to reveal Himself and not to take things into my hands. It's so hard. By nature I want to take charge. Or at least dictate to someone how to do something. I can't very well tell God what to do. He just sits up there and laughs at me when I do. And rolls His eyes all the while thinking, "My dear child, I have your best plans right here in front of Me if you will just sit back and wait. Don't rush into anything or take rash measures. Continues to seek Me and in My time I will reveal my ultimate plan which is bigger and better than any Earthly plan you could ever dream." I know this, yet I am not fond of the waiting.

My small group is doing the Experiencing God study this semester. In day 5 it says the following:

In waiting you are shifting the responsiblity of the outcome to God -- where it belongs! (Can I get an "Amen!" ) *

Then when God gives you specific guidance, He will do through you more in days and weeks than you could ever accomplish in years of labor. Waiting on is always worth the wait. His timing and His ways are always right. You must depend on Him to guide you in His way and in His timing to accomplish His purpose. **

This is so true. I can try and try and try to figure out His plan for my life, but all of my efforts to figure it out before He is ready to reveal His plan are just wasted years of my life I could have spent studying more about Him and praying for His will for my life as well as for my church, friends, family, etc. Sometimes as a human I feel so stupid, but then He comes to me and comforts me with His words and I realize it's ok. He is still waiting on me.

* Words in parenthesis are mind.
** Experiencing God, Henry T. Blackaby & Claude V. King, 1990