Waiting is so hard. Sometimes it seems like God is late. We are in such a hurry
and can get frustrated if things don't happen quickly.
Recently I spoke with a pastor who was in the middle of a building renovation
project. The project was going to cost more than they had anticipated. They were
short some of the funds needed to complete the work. He went to the bank to fill
out the necessary loan papers. When he finished filling out the papers, he asked
them to hold off for a while on processing the loan. He told them that the
church was going to pray. He even gave them a date of when he would be back.
That date came and they still didn't have the money that they needed but asked
the bank to wait a little longer. Then it happened. Someone wrote a generous
check that covered the whole shortfall. The pastor did what is so hard for many
of us, he waited.
I heard a story about a young man who needed a car. He couldn't afford one or
the payments of a car loan. He prayed and waited, but then got anxious and went
to a dealership. He found a car he liked and they arranged a loan for him. The
problem was that he really couldn't afford the payments. That Sunday after
church he asked some people to come out and see his new car. Two men stood off
at a distance. One said to the other, "I guess he won't need my car now. I had
an extra car that I was going to give him." If he had waited a little longer he
would have had his prayers answered with a free car.
When we think of Abram being told that he was going to have a son, he believed
God, but then later got anxious when it didn't happen. Rather than waiting for
God's plan to be fulfilled through his wife Sarai, he had a child with his
wife's maid, Hagar. It was a big mistake and caused a lot of problems. Genesis
16.
Waiting is hard. Sometimes we get anxious. Let's pray and believe God. Let's
learn to wait so that we can receive God's best, God's way.
Mike Barres mbarres@dnet.net
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
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