How Are Your Waiting Skills?

I don't know about you...but my waiting skills need a lot of work!   To be perfectly honest with you...having to wait on something tends to bring out a very unpleasant side in me.   I may not always show it...but the Lord knows exactly what's going on within His child.   I can become frustrated and very unsettled (the unsettled part comes because I like things in order, I like to have plans, agendas and know what's going to happen so I can "plan" for it and "please don't make me have to white out my calendar again" type of issues) ..which leads to a very real and ugly "it's all about me" attitude!

Are you surprised?  I'm not!  I have learned that in these types of situations...my sin is revealed so that it can be dealt with and then I am able to get on with whatever it is that He wants me to do.

This past week is a great example of how easy it has been for me to revert back to my old ways of being impatient and wanting answers NOW!   My waiting skills have taken a turn for the worse....that is until today!

This morning I was reading in Acts 1 again.   As I read down the paragraph...amazed at Jesus's presence during those 40 days,  I stopped at verses 9-14 (Acts 1:9-14 ... whenever you see these verses , hover your cursor over that verse and it should appear in a box above the verse.)  The disciples had just witnessed Jesus s' ascending (rising up) into heaven.  While looking upwards,  two angels stood beside them asking why they were looking up.  These two angels said that the Jesus they saw rising  will appear in the same way when the time is right!!  With God is it all about "right" timing!   Another reason why I must learn to wait well!  I want God's timing in my life...not my own!

In the next couple of verses (Acts 1:13-14) we are told that the disciples went  into the upper room and waited there with some of the other followers....now here is where I stopped and meditated on what I believe the Lord was telling me...vs. 14 "These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.".

You may, like me have a lot of things that are not yet worked out...unknown directions...questions that can't be answered yet...plans that just aren't flowing as you would like them to due to areas beyond your control.   All these things require waiting.  All these things require devoted prayer and a heart and mindset that speaks "God sees...God knows...God will reveal and move in His perfect timing and way!"   I don't believe that we naturally flow into that mindset. I know that the enemy brings in confusion and uncertainty that seem to "just take us there".    But the God of all things has given us His promises...His Word that brings about peace and patience.

So like the disciples...I will pray,  seek peace in God's Word and wait!  Taking those frantic thoughts captive and remind myself and the enemy who exactly God is!   He is JEHOVAH-JIREH (the Lord will provide)...He is EL ROI (the God who sees me)...He is ELOHIM (the All-Powerful One)...and so so many other names come to mind, but these are a great start as I devote myself to waiting well!

How well are you waiting?   What has God shown you about your waiting skills?  What will you do with that knowledge?   I pray that you will receive and choose to "wait" well.

Waiting Well,
Debbie