Impatient With God

One thing that people in our culture does not like to is wait. I also do not like waiting at times. I am sure you are the same way. Have you gone to a fast food restaurant only to go to another one because the drive-thru line was too long? Do you try to find the shortest line at the grocery store? Did you order something online and getting impatient because it has not arrived yet?

Regardless of the situation, we do not like waiting. We do not like waiting for God to answer our prayers. We find several places in Scripture where we are to wait on God:

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! (Psalm 27:14)

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him (Psalm 37:7).

There are even times what the Bible says will happen to those who wait on the Lord:

They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31).

From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him (Isaiah 64:4).

Other places in the Bible commends waiting on the Lord:

It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord (Lamentations 3:26).

We wait for the Lord to act on our behalf because we know He is the One powerful enough to do yet, because God is sovereign, He acts in His own time. It does not matter what you are waiting for the Lord to do. It could the salvation of a lost friend or family, a new job, the healing of some close to you, etc. Waiting on the Lord is not what we want. If you are like me, you want an immediate answer.

Have you lost you patience with God? Have you ever thought about why you can be patient with the clerk at the check out counter while you are not patience with your Heavenly Father? I have asked myself that same question and it is heart breaking to think how we have lost patience with God.

Thankfully, we have a Heavenly Father who is not impatient with us. Christ's finished work on the cross came at the right time. God continues to show His patience on this world by not ending it. He wants people to repent of their sins including the times we don't trust Him fully. The psalmist wrote, "Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us" (Psalm 62:8).

For those, including myself, who have lost patience with God, all we need to do is confess our sins and repent. God is still patient with us even when we are not patient with Him. That is what makes Him a perfect Father.