Waiting Patiently

"And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised."  -Hebrews 6:15

The question on the sign could be read in two ways:

Well, what are you waiting for?!  What's taking you so long to do what you need to do?

or

 What are you waiting for?  What is it that you long to have happen that hasn't happened yet?

The first puts the onus on you and the second takes it out of your hands.

In Abraham's case he'd done all he could do and then he had to wait patiently for God's promise to be fulfilled to make him the father of nations.  If you've read his story you know that he was not always patient and decided to take things into his own hands.  The outcome made life pretty difficult for himself.

I think Abraham's story is a faith story as well as a "cautionary tale."  Just because you can't see God working doesn't mean He isn't.  I suspect that God makes us wait when we need our faith strengthened the most.  How can He work the miraculous in our situation if we become impatient and try in our own strength to make it happen?  Where is the faith in that?  Oswald Chambers writes, "Faith brings us into right relationship with God and gives God His opportunity."

I am grateful that what I am waiting for strengthens my faith.