Over Waiting
This devotional was written by Linda Vujnov
Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any god besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. —Isaiah 64:4
Because of an insane amount of traffic, it took me over an hour to drive one mile on a recent trip to Las Vegas. After shouting at the surrounding cars and threatening to throw the car into park to begin walking up the emergency lane, my mother, who was with me, prayed over my soul and offered to drive so that I could curl into the fetal position and dream about licking the tops of cupcakes. Thankfully, the children were engrossed in a video and my mom knew how to smile and wave at the other cars and their passengers so that no one felt threatened by the eyebrow tweezers I was brandishing. I hate waiting.
As I contemplate life’s circumstances and fatigue over family issues, the routine of praying and waiting, praying and waiting some more, praying and waiting even more, I was reminded that God’s timing is perfect. I have no business hurrying Him along even if it were possible. While I desire to exist inside of God’s will, it feels as though my plans are on hold, change is slow and the trials continue with little relief.
The other day as I was driving to work, I asked God to speak to me. I drove in silence for a while. However, mundane thoughts regarding homework projects, after school agendas, and appointments I had to schedule kept interrupting my listening. Instead of truly being silent so that I could absorb exactly what God was communicating to me, my mind was focused on tracking to do lists. I have an unhealthy relationship with “to do” lists. The silence and listening to God thing wasn’t working, so I turned on the radio that was tuned to a station that broadcasts pastor’s messages.
At the exact moment I pushed the power button, the pastor spoke “God [pause] is never [pause] in a hurry.” I laughed as I told God, “Ok, I get it. You are never in a hurry” and was reminded again that when we rush to accomplish our own plans, we miss out on intentional planning orchestrated entirely by God.
Then, we suffer through hurried decisions based on feelings and self-satisfaction that never ends well. We need to be reminded that God does serious construction by clearing boulders from paths and removing mountain-sized obstacles in order for His plan to take root. God’s bulldozers are slow and methodical in order do the job correctly.
When you have trouble waiting, learn to pause, settle into the back seat, and watch God work, while waiting for the obstacles to clear.
GOING DEEPER:
1. What obstacles are you attempting to move instead of waiting on God?
2. What can you surrender in order to allow God to work?
FURTHER READING:
Lamentations 3:22-24, Psalm 5:3, Psalm 33:20
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