I’m not good with patience.
Last week I read my friend Bryan’s blog about the virtue of patience and his thoughts on the subject are sticking with me.
Reading Bryan’s blog I realized that I too have a problem with patience…but who doesn’t, right. What struck me while reading Bryan’s post was just how often and how easily I place limits, markers, …deadlines on God. Yeah. It goes something like this:
GOD: Aaron, be ready to pick up and go where I tell you to go.
ME: Yes, sir!
one week later
ME: GOD, I’ve found exactly the place you want me to go! Thanks so much for your help!
GOD: Aaron, I didn’t tell you to go there.
ME: Well…not yet you didn’t …but I’ve faithfully waited on you for a week now.
GOD: I didn’t tell you to go there.
ME: Right… but I know you would have…it’s perfect right. And, no need to wait if I’ve already found what I -I mean, you want for me!
I like to think I’m ready to be faithful to God’s calling on my life like Abraham was faithful and like Moses was faithful. But how long would I wait for Him to say “GO”? Especially right now, while I am searching for the next step in ministry employment, I find myself tempted to impose a deadline on God to reveal His plan.
And, if He doesn’t come through on that deadline…will I convince myself that my impatient scheme is really His calling on my life?
I’ve been brutally honest and open about myself.
How about you? Do you impose deadlines on God?
I mean really…it’s so hard when we have to live in space-time and God doesn’t…His plan is rarely on our schedule and it sucks, plain and simple.
Worth the wait, of course. It’s ‘mount up with wings like eagles’-awesome if we do wait on God. It’s just tougher when the conversation isn’t “ME: I’ve waited one week”, it’s “I’ve waited 5 years” or “15 years” or “I’ve waited my whole life for this answer”.
As I’m typing this I realize that it sounds pretty negative. But that’s because we are living in the time of wait. We are in the in-between most of the time.
But, oh, I am so excited about when God does answer…be it today or in many years to come. Because we’ll be better for the wait. We’ll have accomplished what God had planned for us while we thought we were just waiting for His next call.
And that is something to smile about even if we can’t pay rent.
By: Elaina Shaver on August 18, 2010
at 12:13 PM
All the time. And God is working on me about that.
I can’t tell you how many times he’s told me that he’s faithful but I forget so he has to remind me.
By: Bryan Entzminger on August 18, 2010
at 11:04 AM
Yeah. Somehow I get convinced that I need to have my hands wrapped around God’s will or it just won’t happen.
Silly human insecurities.
By: Aaron Shaver on August 18, 2010
at 1:46 PM