Some people are always in a hurry about things. If they want to do
something or to have something, they can not wait, they must do it or have
it at once. When they are compelled to wait, the time seems very long and
their impatience grows with every delay. They can not quietly and
patiently wait for anything.
Such persons bring this same characteristic into their spiritual lives.
When they pray, they want an immediate answer—they want God to hurry up.
If the answer is delayed, they get all worked up about it. Sometimes they
murmur against the Lord and feel very bad, like spoiled children.
Sometimes they pray a few times for what they desire, and if the answer
does not come they conclude that God does not mean to answer them; so they
give up seeking for it and sometimes question God’s faithfulness. If they
see something that needs doing or something that is not going to please
them, it must be remedied immediately; if it is not, they are much
displeased. They can not wait for a propitious time or till things have
worked out so that they can be properly handled. Their motto seems to be,
“Do it now.” That is all very well for some things, but quite frequently
it is necessary to patiently wait on the Lord and upon others. We can not
hurry the Lord; all time is his. He works according to his own purposes
and will, according to his own wisdom and plans. We can not choose for
him; we must be willing for him to choose for us. It must be his to say
both as to “when” and “how.” Ours is to wait and trust, his to choose and
do.
Many years ago I read a story. Later, when I was lying on my bed of
affliction and praying earnestly for God to restore my health, he brought
to my mind this story and applied its lesson to my soul. It was such a
help to me that I will give it to you also. I had been much troubled
because I was not healed. I would pray very earnestly, with a longing that
seemed to draw out all my soul. Others would pray also, but there was no
answer from God. Disappointment and discouragement seemed to shut me in
with walls of darkness. A feeling of helplessness and almost of utter
hopelessness came over me. I was in this condition when God brought to my
memory this long-forgotten story and applied it to my heart with a
peculiar emphasis that made it a direct message from him to my soul.
This is the story: The king of a certain country was growing old, and he
had no son to succeed him. He announced to his people that he would choose
an heir to the throne from among the young men of the country by a
competitive test which would give all an equal chance. On the day
appointed a great number of young men presented themselves. A certain test
was made, and some failed while others passed. Then other tests came, and
each time some were rejected till at last only three were left.
They were put through test after test, but all seemed equally able to meet
them, so the king announced through his heralds that on the next day the
matter would be decided by a foot-race. The course was marked off, the
judges were at their places, and all was ready. Just at this time a man
came up to each of the contestants and said secretly to him, “The king is
taking special note of you. Do not run when the signal is given until the
king gives you a special signal.” The three took their places eager for
the race. The signal was given, one bounded forward quickly, then
hesitated and stopped; then another sprang forward after him, upon which
the first started forward again and they ran for the goal with all speed.
The third stood looking anxiously at the king and at the two runners,
murmuring to himself, “I can make it yet, I can make it yet.” The king
gazed at the runners and gave no heed to the one still standing. The
waiting man thought himself forgotten and soon realized that it would be
impossible for him to win the race. He felt that all was lost for him.
The two runners ran on at top speed, reaching the goal together. They were
brought back, and all three stood before the king. To the first he said,
“Were you not told not to run until I gave you the signal? Why then did
you run?”
“I forgot,” said the man.
Of the second he asked the same question. His reply was, “I thought it
would be but a moment till you would give the signal, and seeing the other
running I ran also.”
To the third he said, “And why did not you run?”
“Because you did not give me the signal, sir,” he answered.
“My son,” said the king, “I knew that you could run, but I did not know
that you could wait.”
So the young man found that the test was not a test of doing but of
waiting. And thus the Lord said to me that day, “I knew that you could
run, I knew that you would work with all your strength; but can you wait
on me?” These words have been repeated over and over in my heart during
the long years. It was a hard lesson to learn, and many times I have grown
weary, many times I have longed for the end of the waiting; but that
lesson has helped me to bear and to wait and to be patient in the waiting.
Sometimes it has seemed that the answer would never come. Sometimes it has
seemed that the Lord had forgotten. Many times I have had to say to my
heart, “Be patient and wait.” This is the hardest lesson that many of us
ever have to learn, but learn it we must if God’s will and his plan are to
be fulfilled in our lives.
There are some things for which we do not need to wait, but for which we
need to press our petitions with earnestness and diligence and with an
out-reaching grasp of faith for a “now” answer—for example, the supplying
of a soul-need, such as forgiveness or sanctification, or physical or
other help where the need is urgent. Sometimes people think that it is not
the Lord’s time to save or sanctify them or to give them something else
that is needed at once, when the trouble is they do not get in earnest
enough or do not exercise faith as they might. God’s time for necessary
things, and especially for salvation work, is _now_; and if we do not
receive when we seek, we may look for the fault in ourselves or in our
manner of seeking. Waiting on the Lord is not needful in this class of
things and it will only hinder receiving. There are, however, many other
things for which we may not know God’s time and in the case of which
growing impatient and trying to force matters will grieve God and hinder
us. Unfulfilled desire patiently and submissively met is often a powerful
factor in character-building.
Have you prayed for things, yearned for them, reached out after them, and
yet your prayer is not yet answered? Have you been tempted to believe that
it was of no use to seek for them? If you are not seeking selfishly, or if
God has not denied you, do not lose faith. God has said, “Ask, and ye
shall receive”; and again he says, “They shall not be ashamed that wait
for me” (Isa. 49: 23). God is faithful. He knows what is best. As a loving
Father he watches over you. His ear is open to your cry. We are told to
“rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him.” Do not grow impatient, do
not become wrought up, but while you must wait on the Lord, rest in him.
Jeremiah tells us how to wait for God to deliver—“It is good that a man
should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord” (Lam. 3:
26). Think of that expression, “hope and quietly wait.” Do not these words
mean confidence and soul-rest? Do they not mean assurance and trust? They
do not mean, however, that we should be careless. They imply activity of
faith and desire, but they shut out fear and unbelief. The Psalmist says,
“Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine
heart” (Psa. 27: 14). Keep up your courage while you wait, do not grow
despondent, be strong in faith; God will not fail.
Again, we are exhorted to “wait on the Lord, and keep his way” (Psa. 37:
34). If wrongs are not righted, if persecutions continue, if, like Paul,
we have a “thorn in the flesh” and our desires are not granted, let us do
what this text tells us—let us “keep His way.” Let us serve the Lord just
as truly as though conditions were ideal and all our desires satisfied.
Let us show our fidelity to God, by being true whether circumstances are
favorable or unfavorable. God promised Abraham the land of Canaan, but he
went up and down in it for many years as a stranger. His posterity went
into Egypt and there, under the lash of the taskmaster, they waited,
waited, waited. Did not they have God’s promise? Had he not said that that
goodly land should be theirs? Why did he wait so long? Was this the way
that he fulfilled his promise? Had he forgotten them? Did their cries to
him fall on deaf ears? Their waiting was not easy. It was long and oh, how
wearisome! Why did God wait so long, was there any adequate reason? Yes,
when God waits there is always a good reason for the waiting. His acts are
not arbitrary; he does not act according to caprice; he acts wisely and
when it is best. He tells us why he delayed in this case—it was because
the sins of the Canaanites had not yet come to the full. When they reached
that point, the Lord fulfilled his promise and led the children of Israel
out of their bondage into that goodly land.
Have you learned this lesson of waiting upon the Lord? Can you commit your
ways to him and feel that if desire is still unsatisfied, if obstacles are
not yet removed, if trials yet bear upon you, the Father-love is not
growing cold, nor his hearing dull, nor has he forgotten? In the proper
time and way the answer will be sure, and because of the delay the answer
will be fuller and will enrich you more than if it had come when first you
asked. Wait patiently on the Lord, trust also in him, be not weary in
well-doing, and out of your waiting will come strength, and out of your
sorrow will come rejoicing, and out of the bitterness will come sweetness,
and at the end of the way you will find a crown and life everlasting.