Happy are the Patient

Do you like to wait?  Do you choose the longest lines in the supermarket?  Do you arrive three hours early for your dentist appointment?  Do you really love the cable guy who says anytime between noon and five and arrives at 4:59?  Those would not normally be our first thoughts or desires.  But there is a waiting that can make us happy.

In Isaiah 30 God says, “Blessed (happy) are all those who wait for Him.”   We often don’t like doing that anymore than waiting in line anyplace else.  There is no tomorrow or wait five minutes in the American vocabulary.  A more common statement is, “I need that 10 minutes ago!”  That is not only how we treat other people, but it is also the way we try to treat God. 

In this passage in Isaiah God is telling His people that He will, in His time and for His glory, bring them justice and restoration.  Until then – WAIT!  If it is hard to wait when things are going well, how much harder to wait when they aren’t?  God says, however, “Listen, I am God.  I know best.  I care for you.  I will take care of it in the best way for you.  Wait.”  Can we do that?  Can we first of all trust God?  That is at the center of the issue.  Then can we believe that His plan is best?  That is rippling out from the center.  Then can we really wait for Him to do it?  That is the end of the matter which we would really rather have now than later.  Still, God says, “Happy are those who wait for me.”

In Isaiah 40 there is a promise to those who wait.  They will mount up like eagles and soar.  Would mounting up like eagles and soaring be preferable to the mess we would make by rushing in with our own plan and solution?  I am sure it would make us all much happier, but to get there we must WAIT.  “But Wait!” the infomercial hawker cries, “There’s more!”  What if in developing the patience of waiting for God we also developed some patience with our fellow man?  Wouldn’t that make us even happier on a real life day to day level?  You must admit, God really does seem to know what He is doing. 

Our Sovereign God on Thee we wait, Your steadfast love our guarantee

The veil of time is closed to us, but You the future fully see

Your justice and your grace is vast, to Your beloved You freely give

By virtue of Your glorious Name, all that we need to truly live

Sustain our patience with Your hand, that we in faith may see Your care

To tend Your sheep in this bare land, and take us to a land more fair    

 

 

 

Visit my website at www.davidccraig.net for inspiring Christian books.  Coming this month is my newest book Taking Care of Joe.  This is the story of a caregiver for an Alzheimer’s patient.  See how God adds His grace in the face of this horrible disease and how living a life of love is living a life NOT interrupted.  You may also find some of my selected daily devotions at FEBC.org.  FEBC is a vital missionary outreach to many countries that are closed to traditional missionary work.