Friday, May 24, 2013
Why Wait
Many of us have likely experienced a burst of enthusiasm about something in our lives, whether it is the moment we will graduate, that next promotion at work, or perhaps something we think God has in store for us in the way of ministry. If you are like me, I can get very anxious about moving things along. My wife calls this being impatient. I think the scriptures agree with her, but don’t tell her I said so. Oh wait, this is the web… Anyway, what do we see in the scriptures about this enthusiasm?
Hebrews 11:1 says faith is the substance of things hoped for, where hoped is the Greek word elpis and means eager anticipation. So the eagerness is good. James 1:3-4 says that the testing of faith works patience, and patience will bring us to perfection (maturity) where we lack nothing. Hmmm. So it sounds like we are to remain eager, over a period of time where we learn patience, and the end result is maturity and we lack nothing. That sounds like a pretty good deal. But being me, I want to know how long I have to wait.
In Exodus 2:11 we see Moses eager to free his brethren. What does he do? He kills one of the Egyptians that were abusing them and hides the body. That did not work well, and he had to flee into the desert. But that’s not the end of the story. God had made a promise to the people. You know, like the promises we all have in the scriptures and like to pray and hold on to, right? And Moses likely felt called to do something to bring this to pass. But he did it on his own timing. What was God’s timing? 40 years. Moses was 40 years in the desert before the Angel in the burning bush (Acts 7:30). Now that worked some serious patience. It seems it is good to feel that eagerness, but we just have to hold on to that eagerness while God works patience in us so that we lack nothing.
Prayer
Father, thank You for helping us to learn. Thank You for helping us to remain eager and trusting that You will bring to pass what You have promised. Thank You for never giving up or walking away. Thank You for keeping every promise You ever made. We love You. In Jesus name. Amen.