Waiting on God

It's funny how often I will pray about something and then take action, but get frustrated with how it turns out . Then I ask God why He hasn't listened to my prayers. I get frustrated when I end up responding differently than I planned on or differently than God would want me to. In some of my classes, my professors begin the day with devotions and a couple weeks ago my professor read Psalm 27:14. It says, "Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord."

I don't know how many times I've read that verse before, but sitting there in class-it hit me. How often do I pray and expect something to happen the very next day or the next time I encounter the situation? I don't know how many different times I have had conversations with people or thought about giving situations to God, but once again it is so easy not to apply to your heart what you already know in your head. I have known for a long time that patience is not one of my strengths and I know that it effects my relationships with other people, but it was not until my teacher read this verse to my class that I realized how much being impatient impacts my relationship with God. When I am impatient and take things into my own hands I am not giving space to allow God to work in my life and in other people's lives. I am not only being impatient, but also trying to take control away from God. I am essentially saying that my own ideas are better than God's. 

So many of the problems in my life come from not being willing to wait on God. How much better would my relationship with God be if I would give Him the space to do what He does best? I am the kind of person who wants to take action and fix everything, but in reality I can't. It is so easy for me to say that I trust God, but when I look at my impatience and how often I take things into my own hands it shows that I really do not trust Him the way that I should. Not only does this hurt my relationship with God and my own life, but this often impacts the people around me. My plans for myself and for the people and my life can't even begin to compare to the plans that God has for us.

I can even look at instances, since reading this verse in class, in which I have not waited on God's timing. It is a lot easier to have a revelation about something then to actually apply it to my life. Waiting on God is not just about the big things like wanting to see family members that I have prayed for 10 or more years to have a relationship with God, or knowing what I am supposed to do with the rest of my life. But waiting on God is about the little things to like learning to respond better when I do not get my way or being able to have that important conversation that I need to have with someone. For me waiting on God means admitting that my own plans are not equivalent to God's, learning to be patient, and actually trusting in the Lord.

So this week I am not going to focus on what I want to do with my life, or that mission's trip I want to go on, or that relationship that I wish was going differently. But instead I am sitting those things down and my goal for this week is to pray, read my bible, and just spend time with God. I am going to wait on the Lord with the Lord.