"Wait..."

I hate waiting. Whether it's waiting for an Amazon package to arrive (even with Prime I still it's not fast enough), waiting on a phone call after a job interview, or waiting for your number to be called at the DMV, no one enjoys waiting. I don't know of anyone who loves to wait. I can show you many people who hate it.

What doesn't help with this problem of waiting is that we live in a culture that pushes fast, immediate self-gratification. Don't want to wait to make food? Drive up to a building and they'll literally hand it to you. Don't want to wait until a movie comes out on DVD? Just stream it right from your living room. Don't want to wait for a whole pot of coffee to brew? Just stick this little cup in and boom! Don't want to wait until you have the money to buy that thing you've been wanting? Just borrow it (plus 745% interest) and you can have it now. Why wait? Don't wait.

However, when we come to the Scriptures we see with God...waiting is necessary. I can point to example after example where God's people were called on to wait. Waiting for rescue. Waiting for deliverance. Waiting for a Messiah. Waiting for an answer. Waiting for rain. Waiting for a dove. Waiting for the morning. Waiting for salvation. Waiting. So often God requires His people to wait.

No one knew this better than King David. He always seemed to be waiting. He knew the difficulty of waiting. Waiting is hard because it requires patience. Waiting is hard because it requires trust. Waiting is hard because it requires learning in the moment what you know time will evetually shows you. Yet, it was David who said in Psalm 40:1, "Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!" Wait a minute, David? Are you saying waiting is somehow a good thing? I should want to wait?

Let me share with you some reasons you should want to wait:

1) Waiting teaches you to please God over self.

2) Waiting teaches you to patientently endure temporary discomforts for greater glory.

3) Waiting teaches you to prioritize what really matters.

4) Waiting teaches you to pray often.

5) Waiting teaches you to protect your mind, heart, and soul.

Waiting should be a regular discipline in the Christian life. It is not something we ought to resist. We live and wait for our adoption as sons and daughters. We live and wait for revealing of the Lord Jesus. We live and wait on the righteousness that will be revealed. We live and wait on our blessed hope. We live and wait on all wrongs to be made right. We live and wait for the new heavens and the new earth. We live and wait for the mercy of eternal life. Waiting is the hardest part. When you wait for Jesus in hopeful expectation, waiting is worth it.