32 days... or when God says 'wait'

Sometimes we can clearly hear God give us a 'yes' or a 'no' to a request we've put before Him. Sometimes He speaks to us directly through His Spirit, sometimes He uses other people or events to give us an answer, and sometimes He speaks through His Word. We're not always happy with the answer we get. We don't understand why God doesn't do things the way we think they should be done. We don't understand why He said 'no' instead of 'yes'.

Even harder than getting an answer that I don't expect or want to hear from God is getting an answer that simply says 'wait'. And that's the answer that I got today from Him. Naomi and I have been praying about a big decision in our lives and we thought we had heard Him give us an answer. We acted on that, and went ahead with where we thought He was leading. Today something came up that makes it seem like we might not have made the right decision.

I was confused, and angry at myself. I thought I hadn't heard God right, and had acted in my own interests instead of His. I immediately started trying to figure out how I could change things, and take another route on this problem. I spent a lot of the day in prayer, seeking God's will. I was looking for guidance in where to proceed from here. I was ready to go do whatever it was that He wanted. I wanted to take action to 'fix things'.

And the answer I got was... 'Wait'.

Well, that's not what I wanted to hear. I wanted something I could act on. Something concrete that I could start doing. Phone calls to make, things to reorganize and re-plan. But God really impressed on me that all things work together in His time. He didn't say that we will or won't have to change plans. He didn't say that I'd messed it all up, or that I'd gotten it right the first time. He just said that the thing to do right now was to wait on Him.

I don't know why. I can't even begin to imagine all the plans God has. All I have is what I can see from my vanishingly small human perspective. And right now, God is telling me that He can see the big picture, and He is still sovereign, and He controls the future. Not me.

It was a good reminder to me. Sometimes it's easy to forget that even a 'yes' from God can be a 'yes, but not right now'. It's hard to wait on the Lord. But I know it will be worth it. I'm excited to see Him work.


Lord, I ask that you grant me patience. I want to do something now. I don't want to wait. Please forgive me for not trusting that you are in control of this situation. I give to you my impatient heart, and ask that you mold it into a heart that waits for You. A heart that is in tune with Yours. A heart that doesn't need to understand all the circumstances, but trusts You in everything even when I can't see where I'm going. Thank you, Jesus.