Willing To Wait

Scripture

Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you; therefore He will rise up to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.

~Isaiah 30:18, NRSV

Quote

Patience is always willing to wait.

~John Bunyan

Many times a father is ready to give before his children is ready to recieve. I think most of us would agree that our Heavenly Father longs to give us more than we are currently experiencing. There are some who say and believe, that as soon as we meet His conditions, God will answer all our prayers and He will grant us our hearts desire. They say that God lives in the eternal present; with no past or future; and if we could fulfill all that is required in terms of obedience–we would see our desires meet, our needs supplied and our prayers answered. There is some truth to this view but we must remind ourselves that everything is grace. While God lives in the eternal now, He does work in time and history. There is no waiting in eternity but there is in time. It is very possible that God is waiting for us to be ready to receive but the greater test we face in this life is learning to wait patiently on Him. Some of YOU have not learned this discipline. Did that catch your full attention. The last statement was an hyperbole, a gross exaggeration. I am horrible when it comes to waiting and I’m very afraid have has passed that gene on to  my children. Try following Joe David out of a crowded stadium when you are 72 years old.

So I have a question: is God going to make us wait when He knows all along that we hate waiting?  I also have the answer: Yes, He is! We all want instant success and He, in most cases, is not going to grant it. Too much success too quickly can create an enormous amount of pride. It could turn you into a conceited jerk. The one thing I can assure you, especially if you are a Bailey, God is going to tutor you in patience. He is going to teach you to wait! June’s uncle Robert use to tell me, “Slow down son, Rome wasn’t build in one day.” Joe Gill famous line in CROSSFIRE TRAIL is, “Slow down son, and you will get a more harmonious outcome.” Old Ben reminded us that haste makes waste and Ben was right on!

What we can rely on is God’s grace and mercy. Over time He will teach us to wait and He will do it by the power of His grace. People who brag about their patience have patience confused with passivity and indifference. In Pilgrims Progress Patience and Passion are children. Patience is content with what he has but Passion wants everything now. Patience is willing to wait. He understands that God will not fulfill all our desires in this world. Patience waits confidently for the world to come. Patience understands that all his prayers will not be answered now but he is dropping seeds in the soil of faith that will eventually sprout and produce fruit. A farmer can die before harvest but the seeds he planted still produce. Forces above and beyond his control make it happen. Keep dropping the prayer seeds day in and day out: one day they will produce a harvest. Whatever you do, don’t stop praying.

EXTRA

I can tell you one thing for sure about senior adult women, they love their SS class and that is true at the POINT and at DBC. Here is what I think: we will meet outside for one more Sunday and then go back in on September 19. There are three reasons for my logic: [1] Families with small children do not enjoy the outside services and we do not want to disenfranchise them. [2] The SENIOR ADULT ladies love their bible study class more than my preaching and they want to meet. [3] Everyone so inclined will have the option to come to the outside service at 9:15 {Sept. 18}. We will not discontinue the outside service. We will meet during the Bible study hour. So let’s just pray for the covid thing to get better. RIGHT NOW, we are shooting for September 19. Wednesday has not changed. Speaking of our Senior Adult women: put Joyce Chaney on your prayer list, she hasn’t done well the past couple of weeks.

Time is passing swiftly and I don’t get to see my family in Athens very often. I don’t go see them much and they come see me even less so we are feeding them today. Most of them will come for food. Holly is my host. Her place reminds me of home growing up: it is the community center. She had a house filled with young people last night. I am hoping for a nice day for ourselves and those at the lake and the beaches. HAPPY Labor Day. You do know that time will really fly now!

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