Flying is no picnic these days. I dreaded the two-stop flight I recently took and for good reason. I was delayed on each leg. Fortunately, I had long lay overs and didn’t miss connections, but several people on my flights did and found themselves waiting in airports for hours. What should have been two hours of flying time took 15 hours of total travel. Delays, waiting…patience was definitely required.

I admit, patience is not my strong suit. Like most of us, I hate delays.

Waiting tries our patience even when we wait for something good to happen in our lives. We live in an immediate gratification culture. We want results now.

This is also true when it comes to waiting on the Lord and His timing for things. We want quick, easy answers that reflect our culture. But God’s timing is always best. The delay can be divine as God works the details out of our sight and in His good way.

Our natural response to waiting can be to become aggressive and push people to act. Worse, we move on our own time line like Sarah did with Abraham. She had a promise from God to bear a child, but took the timing into her own hands. When she did, her life became much more complicated and problematic.

James 1:3 tells us that the trying of our faith brings patience.  God often allows circumstances around delays to build patience in us and to orchestrate things in our lives in His timing. We don’t have the big picture to see his timing and plans for us. So we have to trust in those times of what appears to be delays.

Even though we can’t clearly see the purpose of a delay, God is cheering us on–hang in there, let the trying of your faith bring patience, I am working it for your good, your reward is around the corner. You can’t see it but I can. He continues to build character in us. Waiting on the Lord brings strength.

So today, wait on the Lord. Renew your strength. Treat those creating delay with kindness. Trust God and His timing. He controls our days and watchfully keeps His eye on our situation. The wait is our opportunity to trust.

Psalm 130:5-6       
I pray to God—my life a prayer— and wait for what he’ll say and do. My life’s on the line before God, my Lord, waiting and watching till morning, waiting and watching till morning.