Waiting

We are studying the book "The Fire of Delayed Answers - are you waiting for your prayers to be answered?" by Bob Sorge in our Wednesday night Life Group. In it Bob Sorge quoted Isaiah 30:15-18.
"...Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you;..."

So I started thinking, what does it mean to 'wait' and I don't mean the dictionary type meaning...because quite frankly I think the definitions are missing something. I think the word wait implies a choice. We choose to wait or not to wait. Often times it doesn't seem like much of a choice but I think it is...let's see a few:

• wait in line to pay your groceries...or you could choose to not wait and leave your groceries in the store
• wait on an answer about the job you've always wanted...or you could call them and tell them never mind, you are going to take a different job
• wait for someone to get out of the bathroom...not going there
• wait for a broken bone to heal...get up and use the bone and stop or delay healing

If I take the position that waiting is a choice, what does that mean? Well, having a choice means I know the options. I don't think that we ever have a choice when we don't know what the options are.

That means that if God, my Lord and Savior, waits...He knows the options. If I wait because it is better than the option...how much more will God wait when he knows there is something better for me?

I need to learn to wait on the Lord, even when He waits...what an awesome reminder that I can rest in Him and in His plans. When I stress because I don't think God's answering timely enough...He's waiting so He may be gracious...to ME. :-)

The promises of the Lord are trustworthy:
Jeremiah 29:11-13:
'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.'

Isaiah 30:15-18:
For thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: "In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength." But you would not, And you said, "No, for we will flee on horses" - Therefore you shall flee! And, "We will ride on swift horses" - Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift! One thousand shall flee at the threat of one, at the threat of five you shall flee, till you are left as a pole on top of a mountain and as a banner on a hill. Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. for the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.

I can trust the Lord, that if He waits, it is for my welfare and not for calamity, to give me a hope and a future...He knows the options and waiting is best. I can also trust the Lord to wait only as long as it is best...as soon as waiting is not the best option...the choice will no longer be to wait.