I don’t particularly enjoy waiting. Okay, I don’t at all enjoy waiting. Anyone who has waited on God for anything knows how long and painful waiting can be. But is God training us? What is the purposed of this Wait Training? Could it be to increase our strength? Our faith? Our hope?
Let’s get some clues from a few Bible verses (NIV) on waiting:
Psalm 27:14: “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” (strength)
Psalm 33:20: “We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.” (hope)
Psalm 38:15: “I wait for you, O LORD; you will answer, O Lord my God.” (faith)
Psalm 40:1: “I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.” (perseverance)
Psalm 130:5: “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.” (hope)
Romans 8:25: “But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” (perseverance)
Through our waiting, God is training us, building our strength, building our hope, building our trust in him, which also gives us endurance. It’s like weight training and aerobic exercise all rolled into one!
There is an exercise phrase that states “No Pain, No Gain.” From a Biblical perspective, it sounds like this: “we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” (Romans 5:3-5)
I still don’t like exercising, but as I see the muscle become more defined I realize I like the results.
I still don’t like waiting, but as I see my character become more defined I realize I like the results.
“Blessed are all who wait…” Isaiah 30:18
4 comments:
Kelly:
It has been said that WAIT is the longest 4-letter word in the Bible - but I loved your post today because the word that jumped out at me here was BUILDING....
As you said... by waiting...God is building our character.... our dependence..... our HOPE!
If we didn't have a time of waiting there would be no time to HOPE. With HOPE brings anticipation - eagerness - expectation!
I hate waiting just like the next person - but I have found it to be a precious word - rather than a negative one from God!
Thanks for sharing this simple truth with us as a reminder of the good God does in our "wait"!
May we indeed be 'trained' by it!
Choosing JOY, Stephanie
God has perfect timing. Sometimes I have to remind myself of that. I do want to wait on Him though because I have no clue on my own. Hope your summer is filled with fun things with your girls. Blessings,B
Very good post, Kelly. I am not the most patient man in the world and waiting on anything or anyone often irritates me. However, as you pointed out, waiting for God has a lot to do with training us, especially training us to be compassionate.
I have learned more from my sorrows than from my joys. After my daughter died (a year ago in June), my sorrow seemed intolerable and never ending. While it is not entirely over, I have received strength from the Lord and my compassion has increased many fold.
http://biblebooksandbrides.blogspot.com/2010/07/oh-its-crying-time-again.html
We are in the midst of the summer rush and waiting is hard! Bible camps, VBS, trips, kids coming and going ... good reminder to slow down and wait.
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