Holly Armstrong
Psalm 62:5-6 NLT
5 Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. 6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.
Waiting is not easy and, in our world and culture, it is becoming a lost art. Americans as a society are quite impatient. We no longer want to wait quietly for the person at the red light in front of us to put down their phone the millisecond the light turns green. We no longer want to sit tight for the package to be shipped to our house, for we expect the Amazon delivery person to ring our doorbell the second we select ‘purchase’. We no longer want to wait for our favorite show’s next season to be produced, but we demand Netflix to instantly deliver to us all nine seasons so we can binge happily from our living rooms. We hate waiting, and as a society, we all crave instant gratification and immediate answers.
But, sometimes we are forced to wait. If you are a parent, then you have needed to wait the nine months of pregnancy to meet your beautiful new child. Or, if you are an employee, you have needed to wait after you have worked for two weeks before receiving your paycheck. If you are a student, you have needed to wait for your teacher to grade your exam or essay to learn the grade you received. And we have all needed to patiently wait for our dinners to be cooked each night.
As Christians, we really should practice our waiting skills. With God, we often need to wait. Praying to our Heavenly Father is like sending Him a text message. We can instantly see the ‘delivered’ and ‘read’ notifications, for He immediately hears us when we speak to Him. But then, we see those three little dots appear on our screen that a reply is being typed. And that’s it. “Well, God? What’s the answer?” we think to ourselves. And it can irritate us to no end, for sometimes all we see for hours, days, weeks, months, and even years are only those three little irritating dots.
In those times, we need to patiently remember that God hears us. He cares. He IS working behind the scenes. He IS formulating a response. But all we can do is wait. And, we have two choices in the waiting, to be patient or impatient. The impatient ones vomit angry words in God’s direction, just like a quick-tempered driver in traffic. However, those who have practiced the skill of waiting, sit back with HOPE and ANTICIPATION because they know fully well that God’s answer will be perfect and given at the perfect time. And they are given the blessing of peace for their patience.
Prayer: Friends, my prayer today is that you can experience that peace that comes from placing your hope in a God who cares enough to answer you. He is your rock, your salvation, and you can trust Him to reply. You may just need to sit back and patiently wait.
21 Days of Prayer & Fasting 