Original post 6/23/2016

…is worth the wait!

Recently, Brett had breakfast with someone that asked him the following question….

“Do you believe that God is closing this door?” They were asking about our new journey with Children’s Cup.

At first, I was not very happy about this question, and it took me about an hour to get my words to come out (stop laughing!) concerning how I felt about being asked the question, however! This person asked the hard question and they did it in love and concern for Brett and me. I am thankful to them because this question forced me to spend some time with God to get an answer. 

The question was asked on Friday and by Sunday, Brett and I had our answer! Persevere! 

The Lord spoke to me about how we live in a microwave world. We want everything right now, this minute, no waiting! We want websites to open within seconds. We want our text messages to go through in a nanosecond. We want it right now, whether right now is good for us or not. Think about that for a minute. 

Just about everything is available in microwave form, but it’s not good for us. The thing is, when we heat things in the microwave, they come out too soggy, too crunchy, too rubbery, too…well…yucky!

Anything really good is worth the wait!

Think about it…have you ever been around when your grandmother fixed a pound cake and all you wanted was for that oven to ding so you could get a slice? It seemed to take forever! But when that first bite hit your mouth…Oh. My. Goodness! 

Anything really good is worth the wait!

The Lord spoke to Abraham and promised that his offspring would be like the number of the stars. The problem was, that this promise wasn’t happening fast enough for Sarah, so she took the microwave approach and gave Hagar to Abraham. God blessed Ishmael, but Ishmael was not the promised son. Isaac was. Ninety-nine years old! Abraham and Sarah had waited for the promise of Isaac. They were both past the child-bearing years! But God! Sarah conceived, they had Isaac, and the promise was fulfilled! 

Anything really good is worth the wait!

Let’s move on to David. It is believed that David was anointed king over Israel when he was about 25 years old and then had to wait until he was 30 to actually rule over Israel. In those five years, many things happened…David became the armor-bearer to King Saul. He killed Goliath, and King Saul became Jealous and tried to kill him. David had to escape from King Saul and ended up living in a cave…the anointed King of Israel was living in a cave! Many other things happened to David before he became King of Israel, but David persevered! King Saul dies and finally, David is anointed King of Israel! The promise from God that David would be King has finally happened! Five years AFTER he was anointed!

These are only two, of many, examples in the Word where God spoke a promise and it was many years in the making. God has used these examples to show me that anything really good is worth the wait!

So! The question is this, what do you do in the waiting? Do you wait in worry and anxiousness or do you wait with open hands? Honestly, I’ve done a bit of both. Yep, I’m human! I have days where I cry, “When, God, when will we get the funds we need?” And then I have days where I cry, “God, you’re so awesome and I fully trust that You are doing great work and that our funds are coming in!” 

Are you in the place of waiting? Are you wanting a microwave solution, even though waiting for that pound cake is better? We’ve all either been there, are in the middle of it, or are going there. There is good news! His Word gives us plenty of encouragement on how to wait and what happens when we wait!

Psalm 130:5-6 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word, I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.

Psalm 27:13-14 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord: be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 

Isaiah 40:31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Acts 1:4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me.”

Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 

James 1:2-4 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and completely lacking in nothing.

Romans 5:3-5 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Hebrews 10:36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have one the will of God you may receive what is promised. 

Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 

And you can’t have one without the other!