Learning to Wait Patiently on God’s Timing

In Psalm 37:7-8 I read, “Rest in the Lord; wait patiently for him to act . . . Don’t fret and worry—it only leads to harm.” (TLB)

It’s frustrating when I'm in a hurry and God isn’t. And God is never in a hurry! 

The Bible says a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day to God. One of the most useless things to try to do is to speed up God. When I try to take matters into my own hands and help God out, I only get in trouble.

Proverbs 19:2 says, “Impatience will get you into trouble” (GNT).

When God gives me a dream and I make the decision to go for it, but then get forced into God’s waiting room, I may start trying to figure out ways of fulfilling God’s dream on my own, without his help. 

But the Bible says to trust God’s timing: “Rest in the Lord; wait patiently for him to act . . . Don’t fret and worry—it only leads to harm” (Psalm 37:7-8 TLB).

Resting is an act of faith. It means I’m waiting on God. 

One day Jesus and his disciples were in a boat caught in a raging storm. The Bible says the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. While the disciples were filled with fret and worry, Jesus had his head on a cushion and was sleeping through the storm. 

The disciples woke him up and asked, “Don’t you care if we drown? Save us!” It’s easy to imagine Jesus responding, “Do you think God is going to let the boat sink with me in it?” 

But, instead, Jesus spoke about the need for greater faith, and then he calmed the storm! The disciples had been worried about the wind and the waves, and Jesus showed them he had power over the wind, the waves, and any storms they would face in life.

When I get into a storm, I tend to fret and worry in the same way as the disciples. When I live like that, I’m not living by faith; I focus on the winds and the waves and not on the power and love of Jesus. 

Jesus is always with me, and I can always trust his timing. Worry only makes me miserable. If I’m delayed on the way to my dream, stop worrying and start trusting God to work in and through me.

Rest is not something that comes naturally to me when I’m trying to make something happen.  Because I’m not busy with activity, I feel guilty, like I should be doing something to help.

I need to remember that the delays are part of his training plan for me. It means that I need to stop and rely on him and not myself.  

As much as I want something to move quickly, especially when my heart is in it, I need to adjust my expectations on timing, and allow the Lord to do things in the process to prepare the task and me for what’s coming.