Sin Comes in the Waiting

Genesis 12:4 KJV

So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

Genesis 15:1-6 KJV

1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. 2 And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? 3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. 4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Genesis 17:1 KJV 

And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.

Genesis 17:21 KJV

But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.

I had been thinking about the story of Abraham so I opened my Bible and started reading to refresh my memory.

Abraham was 75 years old when God first told Him that He would make him a great nation. God then reminded Abraham years later of that promise. Then, ten years after God first told him taht He would bless him with children, Abraham and Sarah had felt they had waited long enough and he took Hagar so that he may have a child. Another ten years passed before Sarah conceived and had Isaac.

Now Abraham had believed God every time He said that He would make him a great nation, so why didn't he wait on His timing?

You see, sin often comes in the waiting.

We get impatient with God's timing. We think we need it now-or at least sooner than He is providing it. We try to take things into our own hands and it almost always causes grief and turmoil. Not only did Sarah end up sending Hagar and Ishmael away due to strife of having them around, but Ishmael's seed and Issac's seed have been fighting ever since.

When we are praying for something, we should also be praying that god strengthens us to wait on His timing. We know that His plans, His timing, is best, yet we still get impatient.

I think that after 40 years of trying to push my timing on His plans that I finally have my eyes opened enough to pray more for strength in waiting than for the desire itself. I am tired of the negative consequences. I am tired of the sin of not waiting leading to more sin. That first sin usually starts with a "small" disobedience, but it leads to larger and larger sins (if we don't catch ourselves and confess and repent right away).

Do you find that sin comes in the waiting? Do you pray for strength to wait on His timing?

Isaiah 60:22b 

I the LORD will hasten it in his time.

Patience

Nehemiah 2:1-4 KJV

1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. 2 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, 3 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? 4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

Nehemiah was greatly grieved over the state of his nation-Jerusalem. We saw in Chapter 1 how he fasted and prayed not only for his nation, but for God's guidance in his actions.

Most people would pray for God's help and then move forward, but not Nehemiah; he was patient. It was four months before he went to the king and even then it hadn't been his intent to do so that day.

His despair was so evident that the king asked him what was the matter and then asks what Nehemiah would like to do about it.

Again, instead of bursting forward with the plans I am sure he had made in those four months of waiting, he again paused and prayed.

He wanted to make sure he moved forward with God's plan and not his own. He wanted to make sure he was within God's will and that God's words came out of his mouth and that God would guide him in the king's pleasure.

What a great example of patience! I know that I tend to be hasty (especially when I have spent time planning), but here, Nehemiah showed great humility and restraint.

I pray I can be more like Nehemiah in this aspect.

Working Patience

Prayer, Patience and Purpose

My day started out nicely, but quickly turned. It seemed to be one hardship after another and all I wanted was to get back home. I finally made it home safely and sat down to read to help calm my stressful mind. As soon as I opened up my book and read the chapter title, I was reminded of my morning Bible time and it all fell into place.

I was reading about the story of Joseph this morning during my Bible time. I even wrote a journal entry about it.

[Y]e thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good. ~ Genesis 50:20

Often times when something bad happens to us we go to God and ask, "Why?" It may not be for us to know or understand the why behind it. It was many years after Joseph was sold into slavery before he knew the why behind he was sold into slavery by his brothers.

We need to rest in the knowledge that God will use it for His good and His glory. I know it isn't always easy to do, but we need to try anyway. God will bless our patience and our diligence if we just wait on Him.

Balancing It All

So I finally make it home almost two hours after I had originally planned and sat down to read. I have been reading Balancing it All: My Story of Juggling Priorities and Purpose by Candace Bure. I only had one more chapter to read and when I opened to it and read the title, When Life's Got You Stressed, I realized it was perfect timing for me to be reading this chapter today.

Of course, she reminded me that I should have stopped and prayed today when I was in the midst of the troubles. I should have stopped my worrying and fretting and just laid it at Christ's feet.

I always try to start my day in prayer and if I don't, I have found that my day doesn't go well. I also usually find myself praying throughout the day about a number of things. Why, then, did I not turn to God in prayer today? I can't answer the why, but it is something I will think of often and hopefully remind me to do so the next time troubles enter.

Candace writes in this chapter, "A day without prayer is a day wasted of an opportunity to see God's hand in my life." How true that is! While I did realize and thank God that no one was hurt in today's proceedings, and I was thankful for the one person who stopped to help, and I was thankful my husband kept his cool and didn't yell, I didn't stop to ask God to help me with my own feelings and emotions. I could have seen His hand move in a mighty way and I missed out on that blessing.

I wish I would have remembered my morning reading when the troubles first began. I wish I would have been more like Joseph and been patient and waited for God to show me how He was working in my life. Of course, now that this has occurred and came home to be reminded once again, I have a feeling that it will stick with me better. Maybe this all happened so I could see how God was taking care of me even when I forgot to go to Him. Maybe this all happened so that the next time something happens, I will go to Him and patiently await to see His purpose in my life.