Faith Filled Fridays From Croley’s Corner of Chicklit Power

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Thank you for joining me today for Faith Filled Fridays. Grab your favorite beverage, a pen and journal and let’s get started.
Recently I’ve had many ask me what I thought about waiting! For many of us, we’ve at some time or another gone through a time of waiting … waiting for answers to our prayers. And for some of us, we wonder why we have to wait so long for things to happen and other times, well, don’t we get tired of waiting and resign ourselves to the fact that maybe He’s not listening since His answer isn’t coming fast enough?
We certainly are a society that does not like to wait…period! And why should we? We can Google questions rather than wait for an answer; we can order clothes on line rather than suffer waiting in a weekend line at a retail store. Think about it for a minute and ask yourself, do you like to wait? The answer for most of us is a definite NO!!! We don’t like waiting at the doctor’s office… at the bank, and especially waiting in line at the drive-thru. Speaking of getting through a drive-thru …
Awhile back I had a couple of my grandchildren with me, they informed me that they were getting hungry so I suggested going to our favorite eating place. When we turned the corner, to our surprise, a line filled with cars was wrapped around the building and all I could hear was a huge gasping sigh followed by:”We’ll never get to eat now!” I quickly replied, “Don’t get frustrated. We can drive to another location that maybe isn’t so busy” … I paused and added a however; “we’re not guaranteed it won’t be just as busy.” I’m not sure if it was impatience or hunger, but they thought for a brief moment and asked, “Can we go inside?” My response was, “Sure.”
As we entered, we saw immediately that the inside was as busy as the outside! again they looked up at me with a look of urgency…they were hungry! I explained to them this shouldn’t take long… really, and if they waited patiently without complaining they could enjoy an ice cream for dessert.
They were happy with the thought of a sweet reward, so they suffered through the wait.
Bringing this into a spiritual perspective, we too can find ourselves in a position where we’ve asked for something from God and as we begin to turn the corner in our journey as believers, we suddenly see ahead that things are just not moving as fast as we were hoping and we have to wait. And sometimes in our waiting we become exasperated…impatient...always asking...”What’s up with the wait?” Waiting can certainly feel like we can’t see the end from the beginning.
We are a people of hurry up and getter done, not thinking about the consequences of our impatient- ness. God doesn’t operate any faster in this century than He did in the first. And so while we rush ourselves, we can’t rush God. In fact, much of life is spent waiting. When it seems nothing is happening, we need to trust that is when everything is happening … behind the scenes. We just can’t see it….at least not yet!
In the waiting we forget that we’re not the only ones that God is dealing with. We must remember that He may be dealing with other people, situations and/or circumstances. And to be impatient and demanding can sometimes cause us to act out of and therefore change the outcome of God’s will for our lives and maybe the lives of others, as well.
While our natural nature is to hate waiting, this period of uncertainty can be a time of great personal growth. We must recognize that God is in control, even when it seems He has forgotten us.
Had my grandchildren demanded to go somewhere else, well, the reward would not have been half as sweet! They endured in the wait, even in the simplest way! Our lives may not be as simple as choosing a place to eat; however, it’s just as important to know that waiting on Him brings blessings and rewards to us all!
Don’t grow restless in the waiting. God brought favor to Hannah after years of praying for a son...in her waiting… Moses spent forty years tending sheep before God called him as a deliverer of His people; God had to deal with Pharaoh’s hard heart...in the waiting. Remember He may be working with the will of others….in your waiting!
What are you doing while you are waiting? Are you doubting or worshipping? Are you complaining or praying?
Keep your heart full of hope...in the waiting!
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6
Thanks for stopping by Faith Filled Friday’s and remember to keep Him close to your heart...while in the waiting.
Love,

Deb