Patiently Waiting

I am not known for my patience. I usually see a problem and attack full force to solve it. The quicker you solve the issue, the better, right? Well sometimes that is the case, but oftentimes I have to wait, and like I said I am not usually patient in that waiting. The Lord has been working with me recently in this facet of my life. A couple of verses that the Lord has given me are Romans 8:25, “But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently,” and Psalm 37:7, “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.” That “p” word is tough, but it is also life. 

My head is often swimming with different thoughts and ideas. I try to figure out solutions to problems I see; I try to make things happen. The problem with that sentence is there are a lot of “I’s.” I feel like the Lord is using this season to teach me to wait, but not only to wait, but to do so with a patient expectation of the work He is doing.  Just because I am ready, doesn’t mean that everyone else affected by the situation is. I often take for granted that God sees the big picture. Only He knows how the puzzle works, I only see my little piece of that puzzle. 

One such example of this that stands out is a recent trip to Mongual. I love the village of Mongual and the sweet fellowship that congregates there. Jeff, Javi, and I have the pleasure of serving there every Thursday evening. It is a wonderful time of fellowship and study of God’s Word, but it is late in the evening at the end of what is almost always a long week. This particular Thursday, we also had Paul and Taylor with us. We are in rainy season, so we sometimes face issues such as people having difficulty getting to church in the rain and the distracting noise of the rain hitting the metal roof (great for napping, not so great for Bible study). When we arrived, there were very few people at the church. There had been a funeral that day, and with all the rain not many had made it to Bible study. 

We were thinking we would pray and then leave early. Yay for getting to bed early! But, that wasn’t God’s plan. We began with a time of prayer and then Jeff was sharing a word. I noticed a man sitting outside the church door. He seemed a little out of sorts, so I walked back to ask him if he wanted to come inside. This sparked a conversation that my Spanish skills were not up for, so I motioned for the Pastor to help. Little did I know that Pastor Hugo had been praying for this man and looking for opportunities to speak with him. 

The man, Roger, has been struggling with alcoholism and was seeking refuge at the church. We saw him pray and call out to God, and as a congregation we prayed for his healing. Had we gone home early we would have missed this opportunity to minister to Roger, to encourage him, and to point him to Jesus. We left the service excited about what we had just seen the Lord do. But, as I look back on that night, I am once again humbled by God’s grace.

He showed me that night His timing is perfect. That even when we are tired and overwhelmed when we wait on Him, the rewards are immeasurable. I don’t know what decisions Roger will make, but I do know that when I am patient and wait on the Lord He shows up in ways that are far greater than anything I can imagine.  So I continue to wait patiently and expectantly on the Lord.