Yeah right.
More and more, the realization has come that the more I just do nothing, the more nothing will happen. Sure, there are plenty of things that I would like that will require patience. Unfortunately money and husbands don't grow on trees. But if I just sit around the house all day in my pajamas, eating popcorn and cookies, and watching the latest TV show on Netflix, those things (and many more) STILL won't come around.
In my devotions I've been reading through the books of Isaiah, Zechariah, and John, and I'm seeing things I had NEVER seen before. It's awesome. But for the past two weeks, I have seen a similar theme of waiting. But God doesn't tell us to wait around, pondering when it's going to happen. Because when we do that, we can tend to fall into a rut of thinking that we are being patient, when in reality, we are wondering each and every day when it's going to happen.
It's honestly not the waiting that's the problem... It's the patience IN the waiting that can be the issue.
What does patience really look like?
"Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling."
Zechariah 2:13
"I will refine them like silver and test them like god. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The Lord is our God.'"
Zechariah 13:9
"All that the Father gives me will come to me..."
John 6:37a
"The reason my father loves me is that I lay down my life--only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord."
John 10:17-18
"But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask."
John 11:22
"Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts."
Isaiah 26:8
"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
Isaiah 40:28-31
I can't say it better (obviously.) When we take the time to actively get in the Word of God, it's amazing the truths that are given. And in those truths, we can find the true meaning and portrayal of patience. For goodness sake, the people of Israel had to wait for a lot of stuff simply because they wouldn't listen, or they didn't want to do what they were told because they thought by waiting things could get better.
I've found it's so much better to get involved doing something rather than sitting around waiting. It doesn't meant that it's easier... Trust me, I have so many friends going out to live on their own, in their careers, getting married, that it makes my life still look insignificant. But I know that in this period of "waiting" for me, I CAN do so much more than I think. I still have opportunities to make a difference in my waiting. But that's only if I actually do something about it. Things aren't just going to be brought to me, because if that's the case, it can bring on laziness and apathy. But the reward comes in knowing that I did everything I could to make the wait productive and worth while because in the end... the wait will finally end.
It's not forever... Thank the Lord!.. It's only a period. But I urge you, as I do myself, don't sit around waiting for the "wait" to end... Be patient by resting in the Lord and still doing what He is urging you to do and putting in your life. Don't be afraid to step out while waiting... You never know the amazing things that might happen during the wait if you do that.
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