Today’s Devotional: “Waiting for God”

One of the hardest things we can do is to wait. If there’s one thing we dislike more than anything else, it’s waiting.

Waiting is not our forte. We see this in our society, where fast food, remote controls, and microwave ovens are the norm.

But it’s when we’re in pain that the waiting becomes intolerable, whether the pain is emotional or physical. That’s probably why we hate going to the doctor’s office, because we’re told to wait in the one place we hate, the waiting room.

The waiting room is one of the most dreaded places on Earth. We’re in trouble and pain, and we’re told to wait. We know it’s going to be a long wait because any place with couches, stacks of magazines, and a TV tuned to soap operas is a long haul.

We don’t do well at waiting, which is often the case when it’s God we’re waiting upon.

What happens is that God gives us a promise, but when it doesn’t come to pass within our time frame, instead of waiting patiently, we try to speed up the process through our own manipulations. And when that fails to produce the desired results, we then start the negotiation process.

“Lord, if you do this for me then I’ll go to church and read my Bible.”

Notice the vagueness. We leave out going to church every week and reading the Bible every day. This is because we’re holding out until later, when further negotiations are needed.

We then get to the age-old question, “If God could create the world in six days, then why can’t He take care of our problems a whole lot sooner?”

If God is going to grow us into what He’s called us to be, He has to heal us of our independence. Therefore, He places us in His waiting room to learn patience and gain the strength to face whatever lies ahead.