Earlier this week, I was out shopping when I spotted a bag that I really wanted. I showed it to the friend I was with and she agreed that it was lovely, but pointed out that it was overpriced. I was hesitant to agree but I knew that she was right. She advised me to hold off on purchasing it immediately and if I was still thinking about it a few days later, to go and buy it. After a couple of days had passed I searched for it online and, to my surprise, it had been reduced even further. I had no way of knowing that following my friend's advice would result in what it did, but I trusted her call.
When God makes us wait, we're called to do the same – trust Him, even thought we don't know what He has in store for us. By doing so we receive blessings of much greater value and consequence than a relatively minor cash saving as was the case here.
Here are three reasons why waiting is worth it:
God's blessings are bigger and better
Instant gratification is something that our society seems to be getting more and more obsessed with. But the reality of the love of our Father in heaven is far better than the prospect of likes in response to our social media posts, being liked by lots of people in person or whatever our daily or deepest desires are.
God's love pours down on us in the form of a magnitude of blessings which surpass the good of any worldly gain. But this doesn't mean that we always get what we want. Sometimes God's greatest gifts to us are the protection from things we so desperately want to get hold of. So don't think you've missed out on a big blessing because you haven't got a supersize version of what you initially hoped for.
Our trust is tested and cemented
There's few things like a good old wait to make you aware of just how much you need to have an exceptional trust in God. Rushing ahead reveals that we have doubts in His timing and even being restless as we wait is evidence of a failure to unreservedly submit to God's will for our lives.
As opposed to working ourselves up as we wait, we can choose to wait in expectation and anticipation. Preparing ourselves for what's to come, believing that the outcome will exceed our hopes and readying ourselves for the possibility that God makes us wait especially long. Once the waiting period is over and we've patiently and purposefully held out for God to bring us through it, we develop a better understanding of our relationship with Him.
It gives us room to examine and refine our desires
Periods of waiting are a great time for self-reflection, a practise that we can too often neglect as we busy ourselves with what seem like more urgent activities.
It's common for us to question whether or not we really want something when we're made to wait for it. We also have the opportunity to unpack our motives – Why do we really want x? Is it what we honestly believe God wants for us? Is it something we need to have right now? We're in a much better position to determine if what we want is what we need when we've seriously thought about what's driving our desires. This means that we're more likely to abandon pursuits which are immoral, unrighteous or just plan unnecessary.
