Why does God wait?

Why does God wait? We ask this often...I mean, I hate waiting. I find that most people would agree with me. Waiting just seems to cause frustration, aggravation and just this feeling of being uncomfortable. Take traffic for example...How many people actually enjoy waiting on the interstate for hours just to get home? Now I can't see the hands but, I'm pretty sure none of you are raising them. It just seems like in life we are always waiting. We wait to turn 16 so we can drive. We wait to graduate college so we can get a "real" job and never study again. We wait for that special someone to sweep us off our feet(this one takes forever by the way, ha). We wait for friendships, careers, babies, etc., etc., etc. It's always something.

Sometimes we even feel like we're the only ones waiting but, we're not. We are in perpetual movement at all times for the "next thing", for the next season, for that "thing" that we can see just around the corner. We forget that God loves waiting, in fact He is infatuated with waiting. This is where I recommend you open your Bible. This book is full of people waiting...Let's open and look. Well there was Noah who waited on God to send the flood. Jacob who waited for Rebecca. Jonah who waited in the belly of a whale. Sarah and Abraham who waited for a child. Mary who waited for the birth of baby Jesus. Then there was David and Joseph...even Jesus waited in the garden. When we learn to wait, we learn that we are right where God wants us to be. When God waits, He always has a purpose and He always gives us a promise.

What is crucial is that God promises us the desires of our heart but, we want God to do it in our time line. We get these amazing ideas and visions of how things should be done, how it should look. We want the quick and easy and the "microwave" spirituality when it comes to our life life. This is unfortunate because God has something so much bigger than we can process and in the waiting period He is making whatever it is extra special.

God is never is never early and he is never late. When He waits it is always with good reason. He invites us to be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10). We may not always understand or see the purpose. More often than not, we even think that God is not present or has stepped away during the time of wait. When in reality, the very opposite is true. He is ever so close and is He is working during your "transformational" time. God sees it as an opportunity to take a little extra time to make whatever it is extra special.

So sometimes when we are in a season of waiting and think that job, that friendship, that spouse or "whatever" will never come… keep in mind that God may choose to take us 8 blocks to get there instead of 4 blocks. And keep your eyes and hearts open to the transformation that is taking place.. the goodness that is being displayed.

God will never have us wait without a promise and a purpose. Enjoy the wait, enjoy the time and watch His purpose continue to unfold. That is the magnificent mystery about God. There is something great just around the corner..you just may have to take those extra blocks to get there…

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord…(Jeremiah 29:11)

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