Epicenter: Rome (Exchanging Death for Life) — Thursday
Psalm 27:14
Wait for the Lord… (NIV)
We’ve been talking this week about suffering, and it’s impossible to talk about suffering without talking about waiting. Have you been through God’s “wait” training? There’s nothing like it, don’t you agree? We don’t like to wait because we can’t do anything in “wait” training. A man said to me recently, “I tried prayer; it didn’t work. I’ve lost my faith in prayer.” I said, “Friend, you haven’t lost your faith; you’ve lost your patience.” Patience and waiting are twin sisters.
Sometimes God needs to change us before He can change our circumstances, so He calls a time-out. Sometimes He just needs us to be still. We don’t like stillness, do we? Sometimes He makes us wait to deepen our desire. Sometimes it’s to teach us submission. “Father, Your will be done, not mine,” was one of Jesus’ most common prayers. Sometimes He makes us wait until we’re willing to confess and repent. Sin is a barrier between us and God—have you discovered that? Often He puts us in wait training to develop our character; waiting, if nothing else, introduces us to ourselves. We learn a lot when we meet the person we really are. Waiting teaches us humility, too, and being humble is good. Waiting also clarifies our motives and helps us understand what we don’t need. Sometimes God says “yes,” sometimes He says “no,” but I suspect there are many times when He says, “What? You’ve gotta be kidding.” God gives us what we need, not what we want. The older I get, the more I see that as one of life’s greatest blessings.
An easy life leaves no scars—and rarely builds character. Thank Him for His “wait” room. He puts us there not to drown us, but to cleanse us. My oh my, what a difference between the two! So what are you waiting for? Be patient, dear one… be patient. God can do more in one day when we’re in the center of His will, than we can do in 10 years when we’re not—when we’re determined to do it our way. In the meantime, be hopeful. We’ll end the week with some thoughts about that tomorrow.
Thursday’s Reflection
We all have questions for God. Questions about life. About suffering. About things we simply don’t understand. Here’s the good news: He will answer all questions someday, and when they are, we’ll be completely satisfied.
In the meantime, there may be some stints in the “wait room.” But know this: He doesn’t slam the door and leave us alone. Never. Ever. He just needs a little more time… and so do we.
