The Intimacy of Waiting

Bible Reading Genesis 40
Focus Verse: "Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
Blessed are all those who wait for Him." Isaiah 30:18

"Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him." Genesis 40:23  This feels like a very disappointing verse in the Bible.  Does it seem like God is failing to save Joseph?  I'm glad this isn't the end of Joseph's story.  Did you ever wait for God?  Are you waiting now?  If we are seeking God, why does He make us wait when we pray to him?  Waiting is biblical and a few examples are these:
Noah waited for the waters to go down before coming out of the ark.  He was on the ark 370 days.
David waited 15 years to be king.
Job waited for God to heal him.
Abraham waited 25 years for his son.
Moses waited 40 years in the wilderness.
and there are more.

Biblical waiting is seeking intimacy with God.  Humble yourself to Him and acknowledge your need of Him.  Persistently seek His will in all that you do, being careful not to rely on yourself and lead God like Abraham did when he made for himself a son with a handmaiden, but to wait on God. (Gen. 16:1)  Acknowledge God's sovereignty and power and that He has the power and the right to give and take away for reasons that we may not understand.  Paul waited and prayed about his thorn in the flesh and was given grace.  This was not what he expected, but God knows what is best for our lives.

Why must we sometimes wait?  Every delay and trial on this side of the waiting is being used to shape you.  God does not waste this time, so make sure you get up early and spend some time with Him.  There can be many ways God wants to shape us.  First, waiting reveals our true motives. (James 4:3)  It gives us time to examine if what we have been praying for fits into God's will for our lives.  We need to give God time to teach us His priorities.  Secondly, the delay can build patience, perseverance and hope.  (Romans 5:4-5 "And patience produces character, and character produces hope.  And this hope will never disappoint us, because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts. He gave us his love through the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to us.")   Third, waiting builds intimacy with God.  Our needs and desires will drive us toward God as we seek Him.  We will focus on what God has asked of us today and respond with obedience as Joseph did.  If we don't see results, we accept the hope and grace that God gives and press on.  God is always faithful even in the waiting. We hold on to him as our anchor.  Our relationship with God is more important than anything that we are waiting for.

Page Johnson
Interlocking Ministries