Waiting Patiently

Psalms 40:1 NLT says, “I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry.” If you’re like me, waiting makes you uncomfortable. I want to know the solution, find the next path, and go there now. Yet scripture talks often about waiting patiently… more than I would like.

Patience is one of the fruits of the Spirit. That means that no matter how hard you or I try, we cannot produce true patience without God's help. On the other hand, patience comes from the inside out for those who learn to abide in the vine.

I love how the metaphor of abiding moves across different passages of the scripture. I do not know if Paul was aware of Jesus’s teachings on abiding when he wrote Galatians 5:22-22, but it certainly helps me better understand what God desires for me.

We like to reverse-engineer our faith. Maybe we look at our lives and see a lack of patience, so we think that restoring patience in our lives will restore our connection to God. The opposite is true. Restoring our connection to the Holy Spirit will restore patience in our lives.

Patience is a tough one because it requires waiting and inaction. It requires us to stop what we think we need to do to wait on someone or something else to finish up whatever it is doing so we can move forward. In a lot of ways, patience asks us to know the next step and still hold off for a while. It calls us to have an understanding of what will happen in the future and still be present in the moment.

Growing in patience is hard, but straightforward. Positioning and posturing can be critical players in our spiritual development. We know that patience comes from the Lord, so stepping into this requires us to put ourselves before the Lord with open arms. We may not be able to produce the fruit of patience on our own, but we can clear everything off of our desk, turn the phone on do not disturb, put the to-do list in another room, and talk to God.

He will take it from there and lead you as you trust him.

Maybe such a raw prayer time seems intimidating. Maybe you are afraid that nothing will happen. I cannot predict when and how God will move in your life, but I know that he is faithful. He knows what we need, and he loves to give good gifts to his children. You can trust him today!

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