The Waiting- by Elaine Hall
The Waiting
by Elaine Hall
“Until God opens the next door, praise Him in the hallway”
Unknown
Americans are an impatient lot and expect everything to be done at the speed of
sound. In a minute or two, a meal comes out hot from the microwave. Money can be
transferred between bank accounts in seconds with Venmo and Zelle. Pressing the “Place
your order” button for milk, Cheerios, and aspirin, get the items delivered to your door within
forty-eight hours or even the same day.
Yet one study shows the average US citizen tolerates forty-three days a year on hold,
thirty-eight hours stuck in traffic and twenty-seven hours waiting in lines. By now, individuals
should have learned they can’t force the hands of the clock to move faster.
Some people are guilty of anticipating immediate results to their prayers, too, but
anything of value takes time. The blue stripes on a positive pregnancy test are visible long
before a baby enters the world. After you pay college tuition and buy books, you must study
for years before you walk across the stage to receive your diploma. Building a home, from
blueprint to pouring the concrete foundation, requires weatherproofing, then finishing the
interior before you can transform four walls into a home. These events have one thing in
common. There is an expected completion date: when a couple becomes a family of three;
final exams result in a blue folder containing your master’s or PhD degree; or installing a
mailbox by the driveway that claims this new house is yours.
When you entreat Heaven’s Ruler for a need, you cannot assume a finite time for its
response. Psalm 37:5 assures us: “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.”
This scripture doesn’t identify how or when He will answer your prayer, only that He will.
I recently read an article in Priscilla’s Shirer’s devotional book, Awaken – 90 Days with
The God Who Speaks – about the children of Israel reaching the Promised Land. “Now the
Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark
reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped
flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away.” Joshua 4:15-16.
The Great Engineer's dam, which slowed the river from a rush to a trickle, was about
thirty miles north of the crossing. Unlike the Red Sea, the Jordan did not immediately part for
the Israelites. They could neither see nor hear anything to confirm the Lord of all was at work.
They had to wait for the God-inspired physics of energy and water pressure to bend the
Jordan to His will.
Whether you have evidence of it, the Almighty is working behind the scenes, shaping
events and moving hearts for your benefit. Even if you had to Google to understand your life-
changing medical diagnosis, your electric bill consumed all your grocery money, or a loved
one is incarcerated, the Ruler of heaven and earth is not surprised or unprepared.
Sometimes He answers “No” to your request. Still, Romans 8:28 teaches: “God causes
all things to work together for good to those who love Him.” He remains your Lighthouse in
the storm. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.”
Proverbs 3:5.
The Father is aware of when and where you’ll be each moment of your life and
responds to what may seem like a last-second cry for help. He knew you had only enough
time to call His name before a giant deer leaped onto that dark, icy road, right in front of your
vehicle. He saw the flash of antlers and heard the hammer strike of hooves that skimmed
your bumper just before the animal bounded back into the forest. Before you slammed on the
brakes that would have sent you skidding over the guardrail and plummeting down the side of
a mountain, Jesus took the wheel and steered you home.
No one is good at waiting, yet He commanded you to watch for Him to work out your
problems or grant your wildest dreams. If you’ve been praying for decades for a loved one’s
salvation, your own health, starting a business or salvaging your wrecked marriage, Psalm
46:10 says to: “Be still and know that I am God.”
Is it easy? No, but you can rely on the Promise Keeper’s assurance in Habakkuk 2:3:
“This vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though
it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come…”
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