Waiting on God is Never a Bad Idea

Do you ever question God when it seems all you do is wait for Him to move?  Do you ever feel like just answering your prayer would be a much better idea than spending so much time waiting out the hard seasons in your life?  

Recently, my new puppy took advantage of my quick exit before I took the time to put my ink pen out of reach.  When I returned, she had chewed a hole in the ink casing and spilled ink on my brand-new throw that was a gift from my daughter. 

In a heated rush to see if I could salvage the throw, I hastily decided I could snip the tops off the worst of the fuzzy black ink stains, which I later had to admit was a bad idea. After throwing it in the wash, I discovered all the ink stains were gone. However, I also found that my throw had gained two small holes.  It was a stark reminder that if I had only exercised some patience, my new throw would be the same as new. 

Honestly, I admit I can quickly get in a hurry, not only with material things and situations but also with spiritual ones. I can soon rush ahead of God with my plans before first seeking His plans. If I am not careful, seeking God’s will instead of my own can be something I do as an afterthought versus using it as a direct action plan. 

In Luke 11:1-44 we read of a man named Lazarus who was sick, and his family sent for Jesus.  The Bible doesn’t detail what his two sisters, Mary and Martha, did the four days before Jesus showed up, but I will be honest and tell you that pacing the floor with a little hand wringing thrown in would have probably been how I would have passed the time. I am not proud to admit it, but I probably would have also been grumbling to myself as to why Jesus hadn’t come.

The word all around town was that He could heal the sick.  He was like family to Lazurus, so why hadn’t He come to heal him? After all, hadn’t He healed others?  Why would He forsake them at a time when they needed him the most? Didn’t Jesus care about them and all they were facing? I admit I have often asked similar questions when thrown in the flames of my waiting.

We can have many questions when we are anxious to move ahead, and God doesn’t appear to hear us and answer.  Questions trying to understand and rationalize. These are questions that can easily lead to discouragement and doubt. But despite all our questions, God repeatedly shows us that even when most of us are a bundle of raw emotions, He never turns a deaf ear. He doesn’t always fix our problems in our timing or exactly as we ask Him, but only because He chooses to blow our minds instead.

When you read the complete story of Lazarus and Jesus’ seemingly four-day delay, you see the character of God on full display. He didn’t make his friends wait because he abandoned them in their hour of need.  Instead, we see God demonstrating in full color what it looks like in Ephesians 3:20 (ESV), which says, “Now to him who can do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” 

When Lazarus rose from the dead that day, and his graveclothes fell to the ground, Mary and Martha’s hearts would no longer have been troubled or wrestled with wondering if God truly cared about them. I’m sure their hearts held no more questions or reservations at all. 

God, in His ultimate plan and purpose, showed Mary and Martha that He would never forsake them in their time of need, and they could always rest in Him during the waits of their lives. Neither would God ever leave any prayer they poured out to Him unanswered.  It serves as our example as well. 

The raising of Lazarus from the dead served as a foreshadowing of the Cross.  Even in death, we will never be forsaken, and God’s great love will always follow us even beyond the grave. 

I wish I could say I will never again rush ahead in heated moments or when I tire from waiting out the concerns of this life. I can say that every time I have waited patiently on God, He has proven himself faithful to me.  I may choose many things in my life that are bad ideas, but waiting on God will never be one of them. 

See you in the field,