Why wait? Waiting is not my favorite task in life. I confess that I have trouble with the concept of delayed gratification. I get an idea in my head and I want to see it fleshed out right this very minute. The idea is like a bone to a dog: I can't let it go; I obsess over it; I lose sleep over it. But I am not so very different from most of the people around me. We have never had to labor all day with lye soap and a wash board to have clean clothes. Throw them in the washer and dryer for 40 minutes and walla...clean clothes. We don't have to kill the chicken; pluck it, gut it and then slowly roast it. We can pick up a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store on our way home from work, better yet we can drive through the fast food line and have nuggets with dipping sauce. Prepackaged lunches cooked in the microwave in less than five minutes. Dial up internet connections and smart phones bring the collective knowledge of the entire world into the palm of our hands in less time than it would take to ask the questions. We turn on our television and have access to hundreds of TV and radio stations with a few clicks of the remote control We can start up our cars from inside our warm homes, and mail is delivered instantly to our computer or phone. If we want that special something today, we charge it and pay the bill later. We wait for nothing. Most of us have everything we could possibly need or want but are still unsatisfied.
When we find something we don't have or an emptiness we can't fill; when a need arises that we can't buy a tool for or call a repair man, then we go to God. He is our ultimate fixer-upper guy, but for only those things that we feel we can't do for ourselves; the relationships gone awry, the illness threatening to steal a life, the financial boogie man that threatens to rattle our security. For everything else, we feel we are self sufficient. The philosophy of many of us being, "We break it, God makes it new again." The problem is that once we turn to God for help; God, like all good parents, uses the opportunity for a teaching moment. Yes, he can fix the problem but first he wants us to realize that he was there all along and it never needed to become broke for us to turn to him. He wants us to realize that maybe it became broke because we are broken. We were damaged as children through no fault of our own; we were led astray by our flesh into paths that have eroded our minds and values; we listened too closely to voices that should have never become our gods. Our broken condition must be repaired before God will mend all the little pieces we have placed in his hands.
But ultimately, the greatest lesson God desires that we learn, is that it’s not about us. God’s will is that our life, all of those broken pieces we put into his hands, will be reconstructed into a shining beacon that will inspire and turn others to the Glory of His Majesty. "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)
When I turn to God seeking the answer to my problems; one of the lessons God teaches me is that it's not about my problems. It doesn't matter how big my mountain is; it only matters how big my God is. And he doesn't want to show that just to me. We all have a circle of people that we influence; people that watch us, test us, even follow our examples. When God moves in our lives...he moves in theirs also. So when he takes on the needs we lay before him, he doesn't listen to our input about the problem. He doesn't care about our time table, our desired outcome, or our expectations. He only cares about the ultimate state of our soul and the souls of those that will be influenced by us. So, often God makes us wait.
Abraham and Sarah were promised a son; a son that would be the first of a stream of descendants greater than the stars in the heavens. They waited 25 years for that promise. Through Abraham, the Israelites were promised a land of their own; the promised land. They waited over 400 years to set their roots in that soil; much of that waiting time was spent in slavery. When the three Hebrew children defied a king and refused to bow down to his idol; they had to wait until the bonds were tied, the furnace made ready and they stood within the very halls of hell before they were rescued. When Daniel refused a decree and prayed openly to his God he walked among the lions before he knew deliverance. Why? Why not deliver a child instantly, why not move out the heathen the next day, why not quench the fire in the furnace before they were thrown in. Why wait?
Not all of the answers can be known for certain, only God knows his reasons, but some are given in the scripture. For the three Hebrew children and Daniel; two kings witnessed the power of the True God.
"Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire." (Daniel 3:26)
“Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him. Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.” (Daniel 6:16-22)
In Egypt, Pharoah’s heart was hardened so that God’s power would be seen and known throughout the world. “For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.” (Romans 9:17-18)
Abraham’s people were not given the Promised Land for four hundred years because the inhabitants at that time were still living under a period of grace, they had not yet sinned their last. God, in his mercy, was giving them time to repent before he imposed judgment upon them by taking their land.
“And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.” (Genesis 15:12-16)
As for the 25 years that Abraham and Sarah had to wait before their child was born, who can know for sure. There may have been conditions in their personal lives that God needed to clean up. Maybe God was testing their faithfulness. Maybe key individuals needed to be prepared and placed within the eventual environment of this unborn child. Whatever the reason, God had made a promise and it was their responsibility to wait. Waiting isn't harmful; it is what we do while we wait that can make the difference between fullness of life or an oppressed existence. Choose to wait in anticipation, choose to remember the prior faithfulness of God, and choose to renew your strength with the daily digestion of his word. I speak as one who doesn't wait well but is learning the joys to be had in this temporary holding pattern. Joys I wouldn't have known if I insisted on pushing ahead my will to pursue. I have learned the hard way that pushing ahead only produces the Ishmael's of my life, but waiting will bring a harvest of fruit ripe for the picking and void of shame or regret.
So I won't ask why, but will learn to wait in patient expectation.
God Bless
Amy Charissa Warren
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