Hurry up and wait?

I finish the previous comment with a question mark to show that it can be confusing to “hurry up and wait.”  The terms are the opposite of each other, making me feel that it is often said with a touch of sarcasm.  Say it isn’t so!  We often will find ourselves in this mode of operation, making haste to get somewhere, only to stand in line for hours.  We hurry up to simply wait.  God wants us to wait.  God wants us to patiently stand in line for hours to simply wait.  If you don’t believe me, just a quick trip through the Book of Psalms will give you some indication of how we are to “wait.” 

“Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.” Psalm 25:5(NKJV)

“Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!” Psalm 27:14(NKJV)

“For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the Lord, They shall inherit the earth.” Psalm 37:9(NKJV)

“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope.” Psalm 130:5(NKJV)

I think you get the picture.  So why is it that we always have to wait for God?  Why would we want to simply “be still and wait.”  The Prophet Isaiah gives us a reason to wait.  “And it will be said in that day: ‘Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.’” Isaiah 25:9(NKJV)

 In this day of instant everything; instant communication, instant information, and yes, my favorite, instant oatmeal J we are willing to settle for nothing less than “now.”  If we make the decision we want or need something, we will try to obtain it by the quickest means possible.  One only has to take a good look around to see that society is based on getting stuff to us quicker and easier.  God wants us to wait. 

 “The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him.” Lamentations 3:25(NKJV)  God promises good to those who simply wait.  Now, I know that waiting can be the most horrible, unnecessary evil there is.  I realize that no one, including me, likes to wait for anything.  We have become programmed for instant gratification.  We have been spoiled by the world, never having to wait, but simply wanting something, then getting it without hesitation.  This is just how the world likes it, because when we have this instant gratification, there is no time to change our mind.  There is no “let me think about it” first.  There is simply the want, then the satisfying of the want, end of story.  God has a great plan, even for us.  He promises this in His Word several times over.  But we need to wait.  God wants us to take the time and “think about it.”  We need to wait for Him to let us in on His little secret.  He promises to do this, but we have to wait. 

And the clock starts ticking in the background…wait…wait…wait. 

“in the world, not of the world”