I am not patient. I try to be, but when push comes to shove I find myself uncomfortable in the in-between.
“But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” Romans 8:25
There are plenty of people in the Bible who have had to wait on things. Some appear to do it well, others, not so much. In Romans 8:25 it suggests that if we hope for the things that we don’t have then we will wait for it patiently, at least that’s what I take from the verse.
It seems the key to waiting well is to have set your focus on the thing that you’re waiting for. That means that if what you are waiting for is a family, or a career, or health that you think of those things, have them set as the target in your mind, imagine what life will look like once those things come to pass, and believe that there is no doubt that it will happen.
“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.” Psalm 37:7-9
Being distracted from the thing you are hoping for can be easy, especially when the people around you seem to be living in the fulfilment of their dream. In Psalm 37:7-9 it talks about people around you succeeding, granted it talks about them carrying out their ‘wicked schemes’, but I believe that this verse is still relevant when good people are succeeding and you feel like you’re not.
The point is, when things aren’t going the way you hope or expect, when your promise is so far from being fulfilled you can’t see the other side of it, that is the time that you not only focus on what you’ve been promised, but you try to lock in the other part of this verse ‘those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land’.
Your hope, your promise, they are things from the Lord, they are things He has promised, and while we might not be equipped to bring our dream to completion, He is. If God has told you it will be, then it will be. Even when we doubt we can hope. Even when our head, heart, and spirit can’t agree on how we feel, I believe we can have hope.
So, as I sit in the uncomfortable tension of promises big and small, I recognise that God will bring them to completion, that I don’t need to do anything for Him to succeed.
I will place my hope in Him, and he will take care of the details. Like the expectation of good things on Christmas day, an event we look forward to fondly, and plan joyfully for months prior to the actual event, I will enjoy the build up to receiving my promise.
I will remind myself to have hope, so that I can wait in joyful patience.