“The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.  It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:25-26)

I HATE WAITING!  I’m not alone am I?  We all hate waiting don’t we?  Raise your hand if you’ve done any of these in the past week…

• Honked at the car in front of you the second that the light turns green if they don’t start moving immediately?

• Put a plate of food in the microwave for 30 seconds and then stopped it after 27 ½ seconds – unable to wait any longer?

• Pushed the elevator button 15 times while waiting for it come – somehow thinking that if you push it more, it’ll come faster (makes perfect sense in our heads doesn’t it?)

WE HATE WAITING!  We hate waiting at the grocery store.  We hate waiting in traffic.  And we hate waiting on God.

It seems like such a waste of time, doesn’t it?  Life would be soooooo much better if we didn’t have to wait.  If we had WHAT we wanted WHEN we wanted it.  Right here…right now… no waiting.  Give it to me NOW NOW NOW!!!

If that’s how you feel sometimes, take comfort in knowing that you are not alone.  Impatience is the plague of our generation - it's the fruit of living in a fast food, instant coffee, on demand world.  We all struggle with it.  And we see its ugly fruit all over our lives – in the form of worry, anxiety, complaining, negativity, fear, and a general lack of peace.

Unfortunately for us, God likes waiting.  It’s one of His favorite tools to use in making us better people and more like Him. 

“See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient.”  (James 5:7)

Like a farmer, God is trying to produce a harvest in our lives.  He’s trying to give His children good things and produce in them fruits worthy of a child of the King.  And as a farmer, He produces those fruits by planting seeds – not full grown trees.  And seeds take time to produce fruit.

In other words, a farmer knows that FRUIT REQUIRES WAITING.  No waiting = no fruit.  It’s that simple.

Examine your own life.  Surely there isn’t a soul out there today who isn’t waiting on God for something?  An answer to a prayer…a solution to a problem…a light to shine in the midst of a dark dark situation.  We’re all waiting for something.

The question isn't WHAT you're waiting for, but HOW you're waiting for it?

Are you waiting patiently – as a farmer knowing that it will take time to produce fruit?

Or are you waiting impatiently – like the maniac pushing the elevator button 15 times thinking that the more he pushes it, the more the little elevator elves inside will realize that he’s really in a hurry and bring the elevator faster?

The prophet Jeremiah says that our waiting on God should be characterized by hope and quietness:

“The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.  It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:25-26)

How are you waiting?  Patiently or impatiently?  Quietly or complainingly?  With hope or with despair?  It might just be that HOW you’re waiting will impact HOW LONG you’re waiting as well.

(read that sentence again and let that one sink in – it’s pretty deep)

I just read a nice quote the other day that said that “even when our problems are over our head, they’re still under His feet.”  No doubt about that.  That's the spirit that should characterize our waiting.

How would you characterize your “waiting” style?  How do you think God feels when He sees His child (YOU) waiting in that way?