Wait...

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord…Psalm 27:14.

"Wait" is a word that we often do not want to hear...and more importantly, do not want to do!

Most of us do not like to wait in long lines…including the lines at the grocery store…the bank…waiting to use the restroom at a public setting…waiting to ride your favorite ride at the amusement park…the list is endless!

We don't like to sit and wait in traffic!

We don't like to wait on the phone for a Customer Service Representative to assist us!

We don't like waiting for our tax refund!

We don't like to wait when our computer has a slow Internet connection!

Often, waiting can almost seem unbearable...

Waiting to for test results to come back on a loved one can cause us many sleepless nights.

Waiting for a loved one to return from serving overseas is wearisome.

Waiting for a wayward child to turn his/her heart back to God can be agonizing.

Again, the list is endless!!

We live in a society that is used to having instant gratification

The demand for instant results is seeping into every corner of our lives!  We have fast food…same-day delivery services…and smart phone apps that eliminate the wait for a cab, a date, or a table at a popular restaurant! 

Movies and TV shows begin streaming in seconds!!  Newsworthy items are posted on social media so that all of your friends can view your latest news updates and photos…all done within seconds of the actual event!

However, instant gratification comes at a price: it's making us less patient.  Our expectation of "instant" has become faster, causing our patience to be thinner!

God's word encourages to consider the opposite…Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord...Psalm 27:14.

God desires us to wait on Him…His timing...His way…His will for our lives!

The last few months, each of my children have asked me to join with them in prayer…and many of their prayer requests have required a season of waiting!

Each of them have prayed for God's will to be done in their lives, yet waiting on His timing…His will…for those prayers to be answered is often hard!

Living in a world that focuses on instant gratification often makes it difficult to wait upon the Lord!

Yet, during this season of waiting…my children are drawing closer to God…they are praying without ceasing…they are trusting their lives…their futures to Him...the ONE who loves them more than I can even imagine!

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion.  For the Lord is a God of justice.  Blessed are all who wait for him…Isaiah 30:18.

Even today, some of those prayers are being answered…and their season of waiting for a particular prayer to be answered is coming to an end.  They are receiving God’s blessings!

Dear Heavenly Father…help us to be patient…to wait upon you!  Lord, this is not always easy in today’s world, where instant gratification is expected, but I pray that each of us will be strong and take heart as we wait for you, Lord!