We have steps to take to move forward towards God’s promises. But sometimes our answers don’t come when we want (like marriage!), and we may be tempted to take matters into our own hands. It’s not easy to wait!
Patience is a virtue that is being lost in our modern societies. There is a growing sense of unhappiness in the lives of most people. People are angry and give up after the slightest discomfort. If they are forced to wait against their will, their mood starts to boil over. Did we know that waiting is part of God’s plan for our lives? Waiting produces character. Are we still waiting for God to do something? Let’s be patient. He is at work.
“And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.” Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him” (Genesis 18:10 NKJV).
Abraham and Sarah waited a long time for their son Isaac. Twenty years to be exact. Many times God had promised to make Abraham’s family into a nation that would be as numbered as the stars in the sky and the sand by the sea. Yet Abraham was almost 100 years old, and Sarah 90, when an Angel of the Lord came to visit them to tell them that they would be parents in a year. We can’t blame them for being a little skeptical of this announcement. Sarah laughed after hearing this.
Being sterile was seen as an act of God’s judgment against them. They, especially Sarah, had been ridiculed for not having children. Even though they were rich, they had to endure the shame of not having children. We might think turning 90 was different back then, but it was still a long time to wait for a first child. Could we wait that long for the Lord’s promise? Are we still waiting for God to accomplish what He told us? “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19 NKJV)
Waiting is only bad in mundane society. For God, “one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8 NKJV). His timing is perfect, and we have to learn to just wait for Him to act. Impatience only leads to distress. Sarah forced the matter, and a son was born to a maid she despised, and she mistreated that son. Learning to wait is not easy, but it is necessary. Let us ask God to give us patience and focus on what He has given us to do now.