Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord (Psalm 27:14, NASB1995).
I’ve had many accolades in my life — I’ve been encouraged for sermons I’ve preached, and I enjoy it when someone emails appreciation for an Interruption that’s been helpful to them.
I was yelled at by a cyclist on the bike trail this past summer, that I was going too fast, and I considered this a compliment!
While no one has complimented my patience, I must admit that in 51 years of ministry, I can’t think of one person that I’ve told, “You are such a patient person.”
HHHHMMMHHM – I don’t do waiting. How about you?
Yet waiting is a necessary discipline of faith. And we don’t have a choice because God builds patience into His relationship with us. We experience this with major prayers or life choices.
We get frustrated wondering if God is listening to our prayers!
We learn to wait.
We all need to learn to wait on the Lord.
The greatest quote on patience in the Bible (in my opinion) is Isaiah 40:31 …
Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.
Patience allows new strength and an ease of accomplishment.
Waiting allows God to work in His timing; impatience uses our timeframe, but then we get to work in our strength. We learn quickly that those who wait on the Lord do not become weary.
Since we need patience, what can we do? That’s easy – wait.
Let’s consider our biggest prayer request or area of tension. Choose one that’s been a concern for a long time. Write it down on a piece of paper and place it somewhere and do the following …
- Pray about it often. The most important lesson of intercession is the frequency of asking.
- Pray in the Spirit. The Spirit’s been given to pray for us when we don’t know how to pray, we don’t understand what is happening, or we need wisdom. To pray in the Spirit means learning to rest. We pray in the Spirit until there is a sense of peace.
Then we pray every time anxiety returns again until peace returns.
- Be grateful. In learning patience, stop questioning the goodness of God. Realize while waiting that God loves us. He is working all things together for the good, and He alone understands what is good!
Okay, we are in this together – learning patience.
I rarely think, “God, teach me patience today.” But I believe the verse of scripture that says …
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him (Lamentations 3:25).