Today, I am blessed with the opportunity to work from home. I cherish every moment of being able to spend all day in the environment where I produce the best results of all the work I do. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX But this is better. It suits me and the 60 second commute is the best in the land. So why don’t I work here every day? Good question. And I’ve asked God that same question many times and I hear silence. Have you ever had that experience? Why is that? What’s going on when we ask, well OK beg, God to hear our plea, fix a problem, tell us what to do or at least show us the path. Isn’t it especially stress-inducing when time is involved? It’s like we have this huge clock in front of us ticking off the seconds while we W-A-I-T it out. I know God is up there watching me stare up at heaven, stamping my little foot and arguing my point with restless emotion “God time is nothing to you, but it’s everything to me. Please show me … please give me … please do this.” And nothing comes. Why is that? This is what I think that all means.
We’ve all heard the three stages of an appeal put before God. Yes, No, and Wait – and let’s face it, there is a lot of wait! That must be why the Bible has so much written in it about patience. Yes is easy and we accept it joyfully and move on. No is difficult and that takes a lot more fortitude to accept, but at least you have the answer. Waiting is – well – waiting is the most important skill we need to develop. Before I start a mutiny here, waiting is not interchangeable with procrastinating. OK – that’s out of the way. True waiting is realizing that God is working behind the curtain and our job is to hang on and let Him work. If you thrive on living a painful existence, get ahead of God. It works every time. Helping God out, forcing a situation, insisting that you have it right now will be excruciating. Life comes with enough discordance so why would we want to intensify it?
So how do we wait and what is our role in the waiting? Here’s where we start. One word: FAITH But isn’t that the easy way out? Shouldn’t we be doing something? We are taught from age 2 that getting what we want requires some action on our part. That’s it! And you’re right. Faith is action and it can be the most grueling task of all. It’s so incredibly hard to wait. Give me patience Lord, but hurry! Here’s what we can do while we wait. We can keep praying with the right attitude. “Lord, this is what I want. It’s important to me. Time is nothing to you, but it’s everything to me. Give me patience to wait for your answer. Please remind me that you are in control and are working everything out in the best way because I love you. If you say no, give me an attitude of thankfulness because it was best for me. While I wait on you, impress upon me that faith is everything.” God listens. God speaks. Have faith.
In days of struggle and in days when life is fantastic with everything going your way, remember to talk to God. Talk to Him about everything on your heart and as it comes to mind. We all need to learn to speak with Him often. Why is that? Think about it like this. You have known someone well for many years; in fact they are your soul mate. You’ve talked with them in person, on the phone, over skype (technology is real you know) and their voice is embedded in your memory. They move away and you lose contact with them, but ten years later they call you on the phone. Do you recognize their voice? Of course you do. It might take you some time, but you will know them by their voice. This is why it’s so important to communicate with God. When we ask God for something and He answers (yes, no, wait) the only way we will know if it’s God speaking or our own human nature, is if we have learned His voice, if we have communicated with Him enough that we know that it is God speaking.
There are many voices today. Let’s all learn the voice of God, let’s exercise our faith and believe that God has our best planned out for us if we just wait on Him. “I really want this God, but I will wait on you until I recognize that it is you speaking to me in your unmistakable voice.” Here’s a song from Mandisa about God Speaking https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjyvC4trKzc
Because of Grace we Press On