Submitted by Kerry Patton
“Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.”
Psalm 27:14
Wait here please…
Do you like waiting? I don’t. Waiting in waiting rooms, waiting for a delivery. Only last night, I found myself impatiently waiting on a vehicle, which had come to a stop in front of me in a parking lot…for no apparent reason. What were they doing? Why the delay? Why don’t they move out of my way so I can go? Waiting.
It would seem waiting on packages is one of the worst kinds of waiting. I say this because many of the parcel services now offer tracking services so we can follow our packages across the country and anticipate their arrival at our doors. I don’t know why I would be comforted to know that my package is on a truck in Wichita, Kansas…but apparently I am. But as I think of it, knowing doesn’t change my situation…I’m still waiting. And I am still impatient. Waiting.
What are you waiting for?
While this question seems to resonate with what I wanted to ask that pickup truck last night, we have here a question posed to each of us. What are we waiting for? Some of us may be waiting for test results. Some may be waiting for the next payday. Some may be waiting for Mr. or Mrs. Right to appear in their lives. Some may be waiting for a child to call, or come home. I remember what it was like for Laura and I to wait for our children to be born. I thought the day would never come!
My friend Terry prayed for his sister-in-law for twenty-one years for her to become a Christian. That’s a long time to wait! But to hear him tell the story, he was waiting on the timing of the Lord.
What Time Is It?
We have one word for time: Time. In the New Testament though, there are two words for time. The first word is chronos. Chronos time is measurable. We get some of our words from this greek root. Words such as chronometer and micron tell us that time and distance are measurable. The second word is cairos. Cairos time is not measurable. It is an assumed or estimated amount of time. It is indefinite in length, but definite in that it will come to an end.
The systems that God has set in order function in chronos time. Our week is 7 days long. Our world has 4 seasons. A day is 24 hours long. These spans of time are measurable…chronos time. However, much that God does, he does in his own time. Cairos time. God moves when He moves. Sometimes, we know when we want God to move…we want him to move on our behalf NOW! We need our disease cured now. We need financial provision now. We need our comfort or happiness restored, or our depression taken away, or a job to come…and we need it NOW.
The waiting we endure when we have asked God to move on our behalf can sometimes cause us to experience a crisis of faith. Why is God delaying? Why doesn’t he move? Doesn’t God care that I am hurting, or suffering, or experiencing loss? Now is when I need him!
Our reading of the Psalms proves that we are not alone in experiencing these emotions. They also encourage us that it is not about our timing, but God’s timing. I’d rather have God act in his time, according to his will, than to act in my time and accomplish my will. Wait for the Lord.
Scripture to claim:
“But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."” Isaiah 40:31
Prayer – “Lord, help me to wait on you. My heart hearts and I cry out for your rescue. I desire you to fix everything now. But I know that you are perfect in your timing. Help me to wait.”
