Waiting--Time to Gather Around a Promise

Copyright 2008 Gloria Fisher. All rights reserved.

Most of us hate to wait. Just ask anyone who has stood in a slow moving line at the bank teller’s window during lunch hour. Or in the express line at the grocery store when some thoughtless person has twenty-five items instead of the required “ten items only.” Waiting can be frustrating and stressful. But what if God asks us to wait. What then?

When I was a child, my parents owned their own business, which was installing underground lawn sprinkler systems. Once a year they traveled to some large city for the annual convention of all sprinkler business owners across America. It was held in a major hotel ballroom and hosted by the country’s largest distributor of sprinkler parts. For Mother and Dad, it meant a combination vacation/business networking trip.

For my brother and me, it meant time with grandmother and granddaddy which was always fun. At the same time, for me at least, it was also stressful, because my life’s routine became undisciplined and unfamiliar. Life just wasn’t the same without Mother there to do all the things she usually did to make home comfortable and untroubled.

Our parents were smart. In order to keep us from driving our grandparents crazy with questions about how soon they’d return, they always left us with a promise. A promise of a gift. “If you’ll be good while we’re gone,” they’d say, “we’ll bring you something wonderful from our trip!”

The promise of that gift was powerful. The hope of it held in our hearts usually kept us much more well-mannered and patient than we’d have otherwise been left entirely on our own. Our parents’ promise tucked snugly in the backs of our minds kept us company while they were away and gave us hope. Hope that they would indeed return. And hope that there would be a grand reward for our being good and for our waiting.

Perhaps that was similar to what the 120 family members and friends of Jesus were thinking that day as they gathered in the upper room to wait. After all, shortly before he ascended into heaven, he had told them (Acts 1:4), “not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised.”

Like my brother and me, that promise stored in their minds and their hearts must also have been filled with great hope. Expectantly waiting for the fulfillment of the promise. Were they complaining? Probably not, because their approaching reward was much larger than the size of their impatience.

Has God asked you to wait on him? Has He made you a promise? If so, how are you handling it? Are you climbing the walls? Stressed out? Or are you patient and peaceful? Full of hope? Cherishing His promises?

During times of waiting, there are a few things you can do that will aid in maintaining your serenity:
• Remember and meditate on the promise God has made you
• Visualize that promise as larger than your impatience
• Remain active while you wait
• Keep your body healthy and your mind alert
• Keep a prayerful countenance so that you’ll have ears to hear
• Be earnest in your hope
• Never waiver from strong belief in God’s ability to deliver

Remember, waiting is hard work. Nourish and fortify yourself for your efforts with prayers and God’s word. Refresh yourself with fellowship and fun. By keeping yourself gathered around your promise from God, instead of around your impatience, waiting becomes easier than you ever imagined.