Teach us, O Lord, the disciplines of patience, for to wait is often harder than to work. —Peter Marshall
Most of us don’t have to wait very long for anything anymore. Just think about how antsy you feel when the dentist is running behind schedule. Drives you crazy, doesn’t it?
Apparently, Habakkuk wasn’t crazy about waiting either. Nonetheless, he knew that was the next thing he had to do if he was going to make it out of the valley of despondency. God told him,
“The revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay” (Habakkuk 2:3 NIV).
The Hebrew word here for “appointed time” is moved,which means the right time, the affixed time, the divinely chosen time that God permits something to happen. There’s an old saying that God is rarely early, never late, and always right on time. That’s summed up by moved.
Maybe you’ve been praying for what seems like forever for someone you love to come to Christ. So you wait. You might be asking God for another kind of miracle. For someone to be healed. For someone to be freed from an addiction, For a promotion or a spouse, so you have to pray and you need to wait on the Lord for answer to prayer.
When you look through Scripture, you’ll see example after example after example of people who are chosen by God, close to him, who still find themselves waiting.
God told Moses, “I’m going to use you to deliver my people and rebuild the nation of Israel.” Then Moses went on a forty-year road trip. Forty years!
Now, here’s one of my favorites. The apostle Paul has a vision and met Christ. He’s transformed and says, “I’m called to preach. That’s what I’m here to do. This is all. I am compelled to preach the gospel.
This is my God-given, singular purpose in life.” And then he waits. Thirteen years pass before that purpose begins. Thirteen years before he gets to preach his very first message!
Some seasons in life, you just wait.
I'm willing to wait. God, what can I do to get to know you while I wait?_
(Read: Habakkuk 2:2,3; Isaiah 40:26-31; James 5:7,8; Psalm 27:14)
That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who THROUGH faith and PATIENCE inherit the promises. ~Hebrews 6:12 KJV