"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding...In all your ways acknowledge him and HE will direct your path...(Proverbs 3:6)
One of the hardest thing to do it to wait and be patient. Life is so complicated and all we want is to get the things we desire in an instant just like a "microwaving a popcorn in minutes". Patience. It’s a tough word to swallow. Christians everywhere jokingly warn each other, “Don’t pray for patience! You’ll get it!” And we’ve all heard the joke,” I prayed for patience but I’m just not getting it fast enough!” Funny or not, it’s true that we are all impatient by nature. I'm learning this more and more as i go through my journey in Life.
Honestly, there's just so many questions i've been asking and praying before God for a long time, that until now He doesn't even seem to care about it. I’d like to think that I'm a decently patient person. I get anxious about things, of course, but overall, I understand that "good things come to those who wait" and that usually, the end result is well worth the time spent. Why is patience so hard for us? Why do we want what we want, right when we want it? Why can’t we be content to sit back and trust the Lord’s timing over our own anxiety and urgency?
I believe it all goes back to control. Having patience means surrendering control of our lives to Jesus, the ultimate Timekeeper. It means saying “I’ll wait for You, Lord, because I trust You.” And that’s hard to do. It’s difficult not knowing what will happen. We live in a world that operates by plans, lists, details, and organization. How can we plan or make a list or organize if we don’t know what’s coming? If we don’t know what to expect?
It’s simple: we can’t. That’s where trust comes in. And you can’t have trust without first surrendering control.
Let go? Let Jesus truly take full control of my life? But what if His plans don’t match up with mine? What if He doesn’t want the same things for me that I’ve desired my entire life? How can I trust that? How can I know He won’t lead me astray?
Good questions. And I realized something recently while thinking about this dreaded little word "wait". A vivid image popped into my mind that I’d like to share with you.
Have you ever been blindfolded? Silly exercises on the surface, but deep down, they taught us how to build trust and become better teammates. The entire point was to learn to trust my teammate's voice and instructions. If he said "go right", I moved to the right. If he said “turn around”, I’d take baby steps or giant steps according to his commands. I did whatever it took to get through the obstacle without seeing. I literally had to blindly trust my partner, who saw the whole picture.It's a lot like that in our spiritual lives.
We, as Christians, are blindfolded. We can't see the entire picture. Our view is limited, and we're stumbling around, confused as to which direction we should go. And unfortunately, more often than not, we tend to ignore the voice of our Lord instructing us to safety. To success. To fulfillment.
How will we ever know where to go, or worse yet, where not to go, if we don't listen to Him? We'll never cross the finish line by stubbornly insisting we can manage on our own. God sees the entire path before us. He knows what's coming, what has been, what is, and still has a plan for each one of us. As Christians, we have to trust that. Whether that means waiting, walking, crawling, taking baby steps, running, etc.
Are you listening to the voice of our Savior today? I am. I'm going to keep waiting and keep trusting. And when I hear that still small voice instructing me to walk, I'll do so boldly and with confidence that I am on the right path.
It will be worth the wait.
