You must learn patience to walk with God. This is something I have found out the hard way.
Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears. -Barbara Johnson-
I used to be a very impatient person. When I decided I wanted something, I would not rest until I got it.
I sewed a lot when I was younger. One night I thought I must have a new outfit for the next day. At 9 PM, I started cutting out the pattern, and finished sewing around 2 AM. I might have been tired the next day, but I had my new outfit.
That is just one example among many that come to my memory of what an impatient person I used to be.
Once I decided on a plan, I couldn’t think of anything else. I also thought that my “wants” were so important that others should drop what they were doing to help me. How selfish!
Thankfully, I started to seek God on a deeper level. I made it a point to ask the Holy Spirit to guide my words and actions.
But I quickly discovered that no amount of begging or pleading would force God to do something on my timetable alone.
It’s hard to believe that I, a mere human, would even think of trying to force God to do something. I never thought of it that way, but that’s basically what I did.
I had no idea of the Character of God. And I certainly didn’t know Him on a close and personal level.
When I look back on those times, I can see how much I have grown in the area of patience. Now I know that “waiting” is something I will always have to do well in order to follow God with all my heart.
Psalm 25: 21
Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.
Psalm 27: 14
Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
Psalm 37: 7
Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
Isaiah 40: 31
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
These are only a few verses of the 125 the concordance listed for the word “wait.”
Some of them mean to “lie in wait for something or someone.” But either way, one would have to learn to be patient to achieve their goal, even if it was to do harm.
War-time leaders planned for months to get every detail worked out for a strategic attack. They knew that one victory could be the starting point to turn the tide of the whole war.
So how much more should we as Christians learn to wait for God’s best?
In the four verses above, the Bible says you will be blessed if you will wait on God instead of trying to work things out for yourself.
I know from many years of experience that this is not an easy thing to do, especially if you are as impatient as I used to be.
I definitely don’t mean to imply that “waiting” is easy, because it isn’t. Sometimes I still want to work things out in my own way and do it RIGHT NOW. But from hard-learned experience, I know that you must learn patience to walk with God. It’s an absolute necessity.
It is much better to wait than to mess up what God is trying to accomplish. Then it can take Him even longer to straighten out the mess you made while you were trying to solve the problem.
If you are an impatient person, waiting will be hard. But in time it will get easier. You will find that you really CAN trust God the more you get to know Him.
AND..thank goodness God never gave up on me. He looked ahead in time and saw what I could become. And He loved me enough to steer me in the right direction.
