Patience

I wonder why I’m so impatient. Most of the time I feel I’m missing out on something. If I just jump in, I’ll get the best deal or opportunity. Or I feel like I just missed it. Perhaps that comes from my great depression mentality. I think I’m kidding, I think.
If I recount all the times God has come through for me, in His time, I should get it. He will provide what I need, when I need it. He has promised to do this. I’m reading through the Bible, and I’ve read where God says, “Just follow my statutes, and I’ll provide all you need.” I suppose it’s easy to sit here now and wonder why the Israelites didn’t follow God’s statutes. They’d always wander away, following their own desires, or trying to be like all the other nations. They were just trying to fit in. Wait a minute, that’s what’s happening today. We’re really not so different from the Israelites. We still figure we know best. We still figure we know what direction our lives should take. Why can’t God get it? Can’t he see that if He just gives me this raise, I’d be able to make it? Can’t He see that if He’d just come through with the winning lottery ticket, I’d give to His kingdom? Why won’t God just give me what I need? Right now.
I think if God would allow that, and He has, it doesn’t turn out very well. I’m reading another South American missionary book, and a couple committed to prayer. They were attempting to bring God’s word to certain city. They had three other couples with them. They met once a week to fall on their faces before the Lord, interceding for the city and the people. After a few months there were only three people still meeting to pray. They stuck with it. They believed they had to follow through. Three decades later the city had three major churches, all with vision. Each worship service had 900 or more. They served their neighborhoods with compassion. They were committed to reach the lost through practical ministry to others’ needs. If the couple would have given up and stopped praying, the future would not have reaped the harvest of saved souls. They had patience, believing God would prevail in His time.
So, what should I do today to remind myself to be patient and wait on the Lord? I should keep reading modern examples. I should keep reading God’s promises. If I let my doubts or impatience crept in, the first domino tips and falls, causing the whole stack, my resolve, to crumble. I need to wait on the Lord. He will renew my strength. I will reap the greater benefit He has in mind.