Content to Wait

      This morning I said words I never imagined myself able to say, I told a friend that I was content to wait, and I meant it! I realize that you probably don't know why this would be so shocking for me, but if you knew me in my day to day life, or before I was saved you would know that I am typically not a patient person. I hate waiting. But this past year and half God has done much to teach me to wait on Him, so much so that I now am being more patient with others in my life as well.
       I have always realized that waiting is an avoidable fact of life, one that I typically met with disgust and a bad attitude. I was the complainer standing behind you in the grocery store in to big a hurry to be polite or the girl sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office checking the clock every two minutes and sighing with frustration at the length of the wait. I have been short with those that didn't deserve it and in rush to get things done one my timetable. God is changing that though, He is teaching me delayed gratification and how to have a better attitude while waiting.
       I don't know if I can accurately describe to you what this progress has been like, it's like a switch has been turned on in my head and I suddenly realized I needed to improve my attitude when I'm waiting on something. It's like I suddenly realized that the bad attitude was only making things worse and I needed to change that. It hasn't been easy to break this habit of being discontented while waiting though. God has taught me to wait by making me wait and blessings followed if I waited well, but if I didn't, I got to wait longer, or got disappointed because it never came to pass at all, this last one is especially true when I get impatient for God to move and try to take matters into my own hands, which is a big mistake, things always end better if its left to God.
       In this last year and half God has taught me that if I have the right attitude in waiting (which for you impatient people is an attitude of 'it's out of my hands, but I'll smile and enjoy now right now, instead of worrying about when') that the waiting can actually be pleasant. This new attitude has helped me to realize that the waiting doesn't actually stop you from moving forward, it just gives you an opportunity to focus on something else for a while. And it's amazing how fast 'when' comes you're not so focused on it. Thank you God for teaching contentment in waiting!

 Psalm 27:14        
Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

 Lamentations 3:25        
The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.

 Hebrews 11:7        
By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

James 5:7        
Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.