“No one whose hope is in you, Lord, will ever be put to shame” Psalm 25:3 NIV.

As I wait for God to work out the things I cannot control in my life, I remember the Hebrew enslavement in Egypt. They had been slaves for what seemed like forever and all the sudden Moses shows up and says: “I’m here to bust you out.” They probably felt a new and powerful hope surge through them. Freedom!

But then he goes before the Pharaoh, and they don’t get set free. They’re made to work harder. In fact, every time Moses goes to the Pharaoh to ask for their freedom, something bad happens. Now they’re thinking, “Maybe we should just let things be.”

Sometimes, it seems, living in slavery is easier because I know what to expect. But when I suddenly have hope of immediate delivery—only to be disappointed again and again—I begin to not only lose hope, but grow bitter and resentful. “Nothing’s ever going to change.” And I refuse to get my hopes up again.

The hope-disappointment cycle is emotionally exhausting. But as we know, the Hebrew slaves were eventually given their freedom. How do we live with hope in the presence of disappointment?

Well, what did God actually promise you and me? First of all, he promised to always be with us. This gives me the hope that whatever happens, God will give me the strength to endure it. Secondly, he gave the promise of future blessing to those who are faithful. Now I have to—uh-oh!—wait patiently and keep my emotions under submission.

“Though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. And if I must die, I must die” Esther 4:16c (NLT).
When Sarah made the decision to produce an heir through unconventional means, she was trying to take control of her life to achieve a desired result. At the heart of this decision was the fear that God would not give her a child and the assumption that she could not be happy without one.

In contrast, Esther chose to go before the king to plead for her people knowing that the result could well be her own immediate death. Esther was afraid of the consequences, but she came to a profound decision.

She chose to accept whatever God gave her. Unlike Sarah, who tried to manipulate life to give her the desires of her heart. Which leads to a difficult question: who am I more like, Sarah or Esther? If God denies me all that I dream, can I still trust him and be happy?

Can I wait to see if the Lord will give or withhold his blessings, and can I accept whatever he gives me? Honestly, if I could manipulate life to give me what I wish, I would be tempted to try it. But what would I forfeit with my impatience?

When I surrender all of my life and dreams, there is peace in knowing that the God of the Universe has ordered my life with love and wisdom. Even if I don’t like his decision.

“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” Psalm 27:14.

Have you ever wondered what blessings you’ve forfeited because of your impatience? What if God had something wonderful planned for you, but you grew tired of waiting and settled for something far inferior? And what if that decision to not wait, to settle for something less, had irrevocable and far reaching consequences?

Sarah wanted a baby. She didn’t know that God had planned to send her Isaac. She only knew that there was no heir to the family wealth and that it was a disgrace to have no children. So she came up with a plan to fix it.

The child that resulted from her scheme, Ishmael, born by her maidservant, Hagar, is the father of the Arab people who are still at war with the Jews today. Wow! If Sarah had only waited, she could have avoided the conflict that arose between her and Hagar, and the conflict which still exists between their descendents. In her impatience, in her failure to trust God to give or to withhold his blessing, she changed the course of history.

What have I passed up because I didn’t want to wait to see what the Lord would give me? How have I changed the course of my life? I guess I’ll never know for sure. I only know that I don’t want to let it happen again.

“But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” James 1:4 (NLT).

“I need help with my computer,” my daughter announced, fully expecting the elliptical machine to come to an immediate stop. Instead I answered, “Let me finish, then I’ll come see what’s wrong.”

“But it won’t work!” she insisted. I smiled, answering, “I know dear, and that’s why I’m going to look at it for you. But I have to finish exercising first.”

I understand her impatience. Waiting is misery. Especially when we are so used to immediate gratification and all the big things are out of our control. But don’t ever pray that God will give you patience: there’s only one way to learn it. Yep, by waiting. God never sprinkles pixie dust.

Sometimes we are forced to wait years for the fulfillment of our hopes and dreams. Abraham had to wait for twenty-five years before his beloved son was born, out of whom God would make a great nation. Moses had to wait forty years before he could carry out the task of delivering his people from Pharaoh’s domination. I’m sure God had a good reason for making them wait, such as preparing their hearts to be obedient to his voice.

Ultimately, patience is waiting with a peaceful heart.

There’s a whole list of really important things that I simply can’t control in life. But I must daily remind myself that God knows my needs and desires, and will work everything out in the best way and at the best time. Patience is rooted in trusting in God.

“Don’t let your heart be deceived so that you turn away from the Lord and serve and worship other gods” Deut. 11:16 NLT.

Ever seen the movie, “He’s Just Not That Into You”? There are plenty of other dating movies, if you haven’t. You know the scenario: the woman is afraid to leave her phone for fear she’ll miss the important call and checks her voice mail obsessively just to be sure she hasn’t. She hopes and dreams that every man she meets will be her one true love.

Characters like that strike me as… pathetic. But I can’t judge too harshly. We’ve all fallen into moments of longing desperately for something, whether it was a date with our soul mate or a more lucrative career. It’s easy to fall into the trap of obsessing on the things we want and to allow this longing to control us.

But anything that means more to us than God is an idol. Those female characters in the dating movies don’t pray for God to send them the right guy at the right time and for the patience to wait until then. And how many men spend time in earnest prayer about the appropriate purchase of a boat or a job promotion? When our thoughts are fixated on something other than God, we’re travelling down the wrong path.

There’s a Praise & Worship song that declares: “I’m desperate for you… I’m lost without you…” You know, the only thing we can’t live without is a relationship with our Savior.