“I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning,” (Psalm 130:5-6).

In our world of technological advances, instant communication at our fingertips, fast cars, imminent work deadlines, jammed-packed schedules, pushes for productivity and economic expansions, and never-ending responsibilities, it can be hard to wait.

Patience is not one of my virtues, so it is a struggle for me when my kids are doing everything but getting ready for school in the mornings, when I get behind a driver who is in no hurry to arrive at their destination, when I’m still in the waiting room 30 minutes after a scheduled appointment, when someone is telling a story and doesn’t get to the point quickly, or when it’s been several days and I still have no reply to an important text, email, or phone message.

Patiently waiting is something I’ve had to work on, and something I’ve asked the Lord to help me with many times in the past. Let’s just say, He’s still working on me. Admittedly, it’s often hard to be patient with the Lord as well. When we ask God for something or to do something or when we seek His counsel and are waiting on an answer, we expect it to come right away. However, that is often not the case, and we find ourselves preoccupied, often irritably anticipating a response.

We must remember that God’s infinite timeline doesn’t coincide with our fleeting one, so what seems urgent to us may be less crucial to Him. “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day,” (2 Peter 3:8).

Sometimes, the Lord may cause us to wait because we’re not quite ready for what He has in store for us. Maybe we need to learn something through experiences first so we can better appreciate the future blessings He presents to us. Sometimes in the waiting, we come to realize that things we’ve been desperately hoping for aren’t what we truly wanted or needed after all. Sometimes in the waiting, God saves us from mistakes and heartbreaks.

I have been praying for many months for a clear direction from the Lord regarding my future-for my home, my family, my career, and my relationships. I’m ready to start a new chapter in certain areas of my life, but things out of my control are currently preventing me from moving forward. I feel like I’m stuck in limbo, and it’s frustrating.

While I’d love to begin doing all the things I’d like to do now, I’m not because rushing into things has not turned out well for me in the past. I’m trying to be patient and trust that things will happen when and how God has planned them for me. “I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him,’” (Lamentations 3:24).

I’m sure at times we all can relate to a particular woman in the Bible who got tired of waiting on the Lord.

Sarai/Sarah

(Genesis 12:1-20, 15:1-17:22; 18:1-15; 21:1-21)

Sarai, who God later named Sarah, was the wife of Abram (later Abraham), the man whom God made a lasting covenant with. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you,” (Genesis 12:2-3).

This promise also included the land of Canaan that would one day become the nation of Israel. “The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, ‘Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspringforever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted,’” (Genesis 13:14-16).

There was only one problem with that promise, Abraham and Sarah didn’t have any children, and Sarah was past the age to conceive a child. Therefore, desperate for a child of her own and not willing to wait on God to do what He promised, Sarah decided to take things into her own hands.

As was a custom of the time, Sarah chose one of her servants, an Egyptian woman named Hagar, to become a surrogate mother for her. She allowed Abraham to sleep with Hagar to conceive a child. Sarah believed that in this way, the promised child would be born. However, that was not God’s plan.

Instead of finding happiness in raising Ishmael as hers and Abraham’s alone, Sarah became jealous and miserable while Hagar despised Sarah for putting her through the whole ordeal and trying to claim the child as her own.

We find that in her frustration, some of Sarah’s negative qualities arose. She abused Hagar who fled from her mistress for a time. Later, while eavesdropping on a conversation the Lord had with Abraham in which He promised that Sarah would have a child in a year, Sarah laughed in disbelief. “So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, ‘After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?’” (Genesis 17:12). God then asked why Sarah laughed. “Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, ‘I did not laugh.’ But he said, ‘Yes, you did laugh,’” (Genesis 17:15).

Oftentimes, when we are impatient and hurry things without careful thought and input from the Lord, we find that they don’t turn out as well as we had hoped. Many times, we find ourselves in a worse position than we were in to begin with. Then, we often become more cynical and do things to dig ourselves into a deeper hole. Too late Sarah realized she made things worse rather than better for herself, Abraham, their servant, and their household, all because she refused to wait on God.

Fortunately for Sarah, her story didn’t end there because God fulfills His promises in His own time and way. Fourteen years after Ishmael was born, at the age of ninety, Sarah gave birth to Isaac who was the child promised to Abraham and her by the Lord. Through him would come the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people, as well as a Savior for all people, Jesus Christ our Lord. “Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah,” (Matthew 1:17).

Whatever you’re waiting on today…for your next check to come in so you can pay your bills, for the results of some medical testing, for a message or call from the guy that you like, for that positive pregnancy test you’ve been praying for, for a promotion at work, for warmer weather, for reconciliation with a family member or friend, for whatever unanswered prayer…know that even in the waiting, God is still working. “Jesus responded to them, ‘My Father is still working, and I am working also,’” (John 5:17).

In the waiting we reveal hope, adopt humility, build strength, obtain patience, surrender control, and convey trust. Therefore, even though it’s difficult because no one likes to wait, trust in the Lord to carry out His plans for you in His time. He is never too late.

“We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you,” (Psalm 33:20-22).

Have a blessed week!

-Becky