Waiting on the Road to Spiritual Success

It is far easier than we would like to admit, allowing doubt to creep in, walking on the Road to Spiritual Success. Growing in God, becoming more like Christ, resting in the Spirit, is not for the faint of heart or those who quickly grow weary. There is a lot of waiting and patience involved in our journey. Waiting on the Lord and depending on God require patience and reliance that run counter to our modern first world culture. We just are not good at waiting and to rely on a power other than ourselves strikes us absurd. Yet, Scripture repeatedly exhorts us to wait and spurs us to depend on the Divine Power of Universe, God, our Creator. All who have ever prayed have felt a prayer go unanswered, although not giving us the response we wanted might have been the answer God determined we needed. But what if the prayers we thought went unanswered were circumvented by us taking the wheel and exerting our will? We pray and for a short time, we wait. The forces begin working against us, our stomachs churn, our minds race, our palms sweat. Nothing appears to be happening. How much longer must we wait?

When will God answer our supplications? We grow tired of waiting and determine that God’s not-response means we must take control of the situation ourselves, pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and press on. After all, God blesses those who fend for themselves, doesn’t He? Wait—you mean there is no biblical verse encouraging me to pull myself up by my bootstraps and run my own course? Crap. What do I do? Stand firm. Stand firm? Yes, wait. Yes, it is hard. Faithfulness is rooted in endurance, in waiting, in depending on God to do God’s work. He is for you, not against you. So stand firm in His presence, trust that He hears your cries and believe that He will respond to you in time. No, He won’t answer all your prayers in the way you expect. Sometimes, He will show you great favor by not giving you what you ask for. But do not mistake momentary silence as a sign that you need to spring into action and take over flying the plane. God’s the pilot. You’re not. It is best to let Him do the flying and better if we do the relying. Not only will we get there, but we will also be assured of arriving at the right destination.