I once heard a pastor preach on the topic of God's promises where he drove a compelling point on "active patience." He gave the example of believing God for a car. Asking the congregation how many of them wanted a car, a whole lot of hands shot up into the air without hesitation. Then the pastor asked a question that hit the mark: "How many of you have a licence?" A much, much smaller number of hands went up, and much slower this time.
On many occasions, God desires for us to be still and to wait on Him patiently. However, in the fast-paced life that we live in where everything has an "instant" version and you can pay to get things faster, we would rather work our way to getting our promises and prayers answered sooner than they should.
When we don't wait on God and try to do things on our own, things often end up becoming half baked. Why? Because when God was supposed to be working on the dough, you insisted on kneading it when you forgot to preheat the oven. God's making things work for our good (Romans 8:28), but how ready are the things that you have direct control over? How's your heart, spending habits, stewardship, team, business or health doing?
Being patient doesn't mean that we have nothing to do. There is a lot to do, but we don't often see the importance of the role that we play in seeing promises come to fulfilment. We don't see the value of working on our character, of fervent prayer, of faithful vision casting and so on. There is so much to get done while waiting on God.
The Most Important Job When Waiting
Our most important job when waiting patiently on God's promises is found in Psalm 46:10: "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"
When God calls us to wait patiently and be still, He commands us to know Him. How much do you know God?
Truth is that there is so much to know about God and there's a lot to learn! But we need to start doing it ASAP if we want to be ready for when God turns the tide to our favour. The promise is coming, but how much do you know the promise keeper? The breakthrough is coming, but do you know the name to exalt when it comes?
It's God's job to make breakthrough and miracles happen in our life—great provision, bigger influence and more success. Our job is to know Him and to grow in our relationship with Him.
