James 5:7-8 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

At this point in my life, my children are raising their children.  From this vantage point, things seem so much more clear than they did when I was in their shoes.  The things that are most clear are the things that I didn’t do well as a parent.  Now don’t get me wrong. It’s not that they turned out badly.  I love my children and am very proud of the adults they have become.   I am so proud to call them my children because their character is strong and their faith is real.    But I made mistakes and it’s important to learn the lessons.  

One of the biggest mistakes  I made  (and arguably continue to make?) as a parent was to not be patient in providing them with things I really wanted them to have.   They went through a lot when they were little.  They lost their dad to divorce, then they lost my dad who had stepped in to be there for them.  Shortly after that, they lost my mom as well.  There was so much loss and I wanted them to be consoled and to have some of the joy back that little children should have.   Also,  I was so excited about them being excited about receiving this gift or that, that I couldn’t wait to give them everything. So, I did.  I gave them gifts before they even realized they REALLY wanted that bike or that game or that guitar.   It was a mistake.

The result of this error is that my children received too much, too soon and were not able to experience that immeasurable contentedness and excitement that we feel when we finally have something for which we have waited or for which we have worked – for which we have longed until it hurt.  What if you had to wait for years before getting pregnant?   How valuable do you think your positive pregnancy test results would be to you?  What if you had to wait on that school acceptance letter after having been rejected the year before?   Do you think a congratulations would mean even more to you?

Let’s be honest, though.  Who in this world of instant everything wants to be told, “Oh honey, just wait on God.”   Yeah, right.  THAT’S what we want to hear?  Heck no.  We want God to answer us right now because we have plans for us- plans we think are good and not evil.   We can see the benefit of God answering us right-this-minute and we see no real advantage to having to wait.  Waiting is just a pain in the neck, after all.   

Longing for something makes it more valuable to us.  The longer we have to wait, the better we take care of that thing.    It’s in the waiting and the working that we come to receive the object of our desire with a great respect and appreciation, not with a sense of entitlement.  It’s important.      

But wait! (haha)  Maybe the part where you’re waiting is one of the most important parts!  Could that be a possibility?   is it possible that after you’ve waited for a very long time for Mr. or Mrs. Right, that when things get tough, you work through because, after all, you waited so long and you don’t want to lose this thing? Could the wait be the insurance policy for the relationship?  Is this God loving us?      

Maybe the waiting part is one of the most valuable parts of all. Maybe waiting isn’t a means to an end.  Maybe waiting is, in and of itself, the thing of great value.  Maybe God is the good parent who waits for His child to be mature enough, to be ready enough, to have grown in appreciation before giving them the thing for which they long.   

Wait on God.  Take the waiting time as a lesson and a gift from a good parent.    See it as you lifting the barbells before you see the muscle grow.  If you can find purpose in the wait, if you can find the lesson you are to learn as soon as possible, then you will be past the waiting stage sooner.   

Takeaway:    Waiting is in and of itself a gift from a good Father.   Receive the gift, appreciate the gift, learn the lesson and then go on to the next gift.  Any good parent longs to give his child good gifts.  God is no different.  But the wait is the gift, too.     Release the frustration, meditate on His goodness, do a scriptural study on waiting, memorize one scripture about waiting.    It will change your view of where you are. 

Prayer:  Lord, thank you for having me wait for the things You want me to have.  I receive the waiting as a gift, even if it doesn’t feel good, because I know that when I wait and work for a goal, that goal becomes more and more valuable to me.  Grant me patience and Your perspective in my “waiting” circumstances.   I may not like it, I may continue to pray for the wait to be over, but I know that You are working all things for good for me.   Thank you, Jesus.  

Isaiah 40:31 But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Psalm 27:13-14 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

James 5:7-8  Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

Psalm 33:20-22 Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.

2 Peter 3:9  The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Isaiah 30:18 Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.

James 5:11  Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

Lamentations 3:25  The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.

Romans 5:3-4  More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

Psalm 130: 5-6  I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.

Psalm 37:34 Wait for the Lord and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off.

Psalm 62:5   For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.

Psalm 27:14  Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Psalm 40:1-17  To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie! You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told. …

Habakkuk 2:1-3  I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint. And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.

Isaiah 64:4   From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.

Psalm 37:9   For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

Micah 7:7    But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.

Matthew 6:34  “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

John 3:16-17   “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Psalm 62:1   To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.

Psalm 25:4-5   Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.

Acts 1:4   And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me;

Psalm 119:48   I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.

John 5:6   When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”

Psalm 123:1-2   A Song of Ascents. To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he has mercy upon us.

1 John 4:4   Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.