Daily devotion – wait…patiently!
James 1:3 ….knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
How many times has your impatience got you into trouble? When we are not willing to wait on God and instead run ahead of Him. Often, we start out ok, God allows something to come our way, we pray and we look to Him for guidance and help. But then we get impatient in our waiting for God to do something and we decide to take matters into our own hands.
Maybe it was such with Abraham and Sarah when they in their frustration decided to ‘help God’ by using Hagar as a surrogate. Was it the same for King Saul when he decided to offer the sacrifices to God instead of waiting for Samuel?
If God seemed to be moving slowly for me, I assumed He needed me to help Him along. My lack of patience, however, almost always resulted in me making a complete mess of my situation. I have over time and many foolish mistakes, gradually learned now to wait on God for Him to accomplish His work in me.
Often the reason for our being impatient is the illusion that while we wait for God, nothing is happening! Yet the truth is that a lot is going on that we cannot see or be part of. While we wait on God, He’s working around us and within us, preparing us for our circumstances and our circumstances for us.
One of the works God performs in us is to develop patience and endurance, because once these qualities are operative, virtue and victory follow.
C.H Spurgeon, the great 19th century preacher once said that if we were as wise as God, we would choose our trials for ourselves. Whatever God wants to do in our lives is better than the best outcome we could ever imagine.
This week, wait,….patiently,…and wait some more,..and let God do what He desires to do in your life. In the meantime live for Him, obey Him, and share the gospel to someone who is lost!