Taking His Time

I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. Psalm 40:1 (King James Version)

Waiting patiently. Once again I am reminded it means hopeful expectation not resignation! The waiting is on God not on opportunities, change in circumstances, or change in me. Any inner turmoil, frustration, worry, or straining reveals a lack of trust on my part. A trust in God’s will, God’s ways, God’s timing, and God’s character. God’s purposes, plans, and protection in times of waiting are always demonstrated even if I don’t clearly see them or understand them. Many times God has to help me see what is NOT meant in order to understand what IS meant when He requires that I go through a time of waiting.

I can recall two types of waiting that have skewed my thinking in regards to waiting on God. Both took place when I was young. I can remember being with my dad on certain days and inevitably stopping at a bar. More often than not, I was told to ‘sit tight’ while he went in for a drink. It could be a brief or extended time of waiting, but either way I was left alone, unattended, and unaware of when the waiting would end. I can also remember ‘waiting’ by an upstairs window watching for my parents to come home on Friday evenings with groceries. I knew instinctively if they had been drinking the groceries would wait until ‘tomorrow.’ There was a sense of expectant disappointment.

This morning, God is tenderly reminding me that neither of these scenarios are accurate representations of waiting patiently for Him. In the midst of waiting, He is present with me and He is NOT setting me up for a disappointment. He is using this time to prepare me and faithfully arrange the circumstances and people in my life to bring about His eventual purposes. He is attentive, involved, and caring as He operates according to His wisdom and His time. But I will fail to see that if I continue to view Him through a grid of distrust, distortions, and disappointments.

My journey to freedom is filled with moments when God takes me back to the root of distorted thinking. While He will not change the things that happened in my life, He will correct the interpretation of those things. As lies are exposed, He offers truth for me to embrace. He is helping me to take the faces of individuals off Himself and see Him for who He is and what He is really like. It is definitely worth the time He is taking to do it!

Father, thank you that You take the perfect amount of time to work with me and in me. Amen.

In His Time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo-rGzx2OZk

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.