“The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.” 

(Lamentations 3:25-27 ESV)

I am by nature an impetuous person, my body and mind are currently a little slower but that’s ok when you are writing – or reading!  These days they would say I had ADHD when young (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).  Now it is mainly ADD; there being little chance of any hyperactivity left in the tank.

So waiting has been my bête noire.  Like most of the world I want it and I want it now: safety, healing, food, things, sleep and winning with God.

I have had a fall lately and after a storm, several of the fences blew down.  I was not happy with God.  I thought: REALLY; I do not need this. Please help me to get it done which He did. In the replacement of the fencing there was no small amount of pain in the doing. There was also my frustration at my lack of ability in contrast to my youthful self but I knew it could not wait having first retrieved Daisy the dog from next door!

Other times you just have to wait.  As I write I am waiting for acrylic paint to cure.  It has reminded me of the irony of the saying “I would rather watch paint to dry” because that is exactly what I have to do: wait!  I can go no further with my painting project until the paint cures on a bass guitar neck that has to be silky smooth.  It takes time.

Occasionally in the past I have messed things up by being impatient, especially with applying consecutive layers of paint.  This then required a do-over stripping down to the start again from the bare wood or metal.  So now I wait.

It is a hard lesson to face when you see what you know would happen, happen right in front of you, when we should have waited.  So too our lives and relationships can be like that, sometimes you just have to wait and say nothing because to do so would be a mistake.

Our walk with God can be like that too sometimes we have to be silent before God.  God may allow our lives to be stripped back by some event or situation and we find out where our faith lies.  To rail against Him is a mistake.  Our commitment can be instant but faith grows by walking with Him humbly over time and sometimes we have to work through the tough stuff before we know the final outcome; heaven, and we have to wait. 

Keep the faith.

Prayer: LORD for all of us wondering do you care, please come quickly to help us to be still and bring Your Peace and Solace, in and through Jesus’ name, amen.

Roderick Marshall