Amazon NOW

I love Amazon.

 

I love Amazon Prime.  I have had it almost a year and it is quite exciting to know I can order something from the comfort of my own home and it comes to me with free shipping in two days.

 

Now they have Amazon NOW.  You can order something from the comfort of your own home and within a couple of hours, it greets you at your door!  I haven't tried it yet, but I know of some who have and they really like it.  Who wouldn't!?  Talk about instant gratification and satisfaction!

 

 

That takes me to the topic of this blog post.  As I logged on to begin writing, I found that I actually began this post over a month ago, but the Lord never gave me the green light to begin.

He made me WAIT.

The above picture was taken in Williamsburg last year.  Williamsburg is an opportunity for us to go back in time and see how things used to be.  This farmer had to plow his field - and it was a slow process with a horse and plow.  Then, he had to go fetch his water, place it in a bucket in order for it to be waiting for him at the end of that row. 

In other words - nothing happened fast.

I have begun thinking hard on Amazon NOW.  I am not opposed to it nor am I saying it is ridiculous because I am like the next person - if I can get something quicker and easier, then I am all for it.

However, what if that is part of the process of learning in life?  What if I am missing out on something "out there" that God has planned for me because I want to save some time and have it all NOW.

What if the continual instant gratification that occurs in our world (we have seen it increase greatly over the last years) causes me to transfer this to my walk with the Lord?  What if I begin to think even more of my prayers to God as "God, I really want my answer NOW."  or... demand "God NOW!"

I think the Lord had me WAIT on writing this post because He was continually teaching me to wait on Him for my words.  Wait on Him for wisdom.

Just WAIT.

In my Bible reading, I spent some time in Psalm 27.

The last verse has stayed with me:  Psalm 27:14
Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

If you read God's Word carefully you see that oftentimes God made people WAIT more than He allowed their prayers to be answered quickly.

Abraham and Sarah waited for a child.  God didn't answer the prayer until Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90.

Isaac and Rebekah had to wait for children of their own - in fact, Isaac was around 60 years old when Jacob and Esau were born.

Joseph had to wait many years in slavery and a prison before God revealed His purpose and plan.  I am sure Joseph prayed a lot to the Lord while in prison and asked to be set free as he was in prison unfairly.  God made him wait.

The Jews waited in silence for 400 years between the Old and New Testaments before Jesus came as Emmanuel.

We still wait today for Christ's return.

Unfortunately, in our Age of Grace, the waiting becomes something we may talk about with others but never fully desire to do. 

From recent personal experience, Steve and I have both been sick with pneumonia/bronchitis and Steve even got the shingles.  It would have been nice to say they were done and we were healed in a few days.  For me it has taken a good five weeks to feel better.  For Steve, he is still in the waiting game.  There were days when he and I have both been so tired of feeling badly and were "weary in the waiting."  And what we experienced has been nothing compared to others who have faced terminal illness or a physical illness that has taken much longer!

I know waiting can be hard. 

I know waiting can be overwhelming and unpleasant.

Sometimes waiting feels as if God is silent and not really there.

The Psalms are full of experiences where the person writing felt the waiting was where God was silent. The waiting was just too hard.

Instead of viewing the waiting only negatively, we must see the waiting and "silence" as God's time of transforming us into what He knows we need when He does reveal the package He wants to deliver for our lives.

I have read a quote previously and I will paraphrase it here as I do not remember it exactly:

"When God is silent, remember the teacher is always silent during a test."

As a teacher, I can totally understand that.  As a teacher, I know how making a student "wait" is beneficial and teaches much!

Here is what the test of waiting from the Lord may look like:

In waiting we are taught valuable lessons by what is placed before us.  Lessons we never would have learned if we had not been in the waiting.

In waiting we learn how to depend more on the Lord.

In waiting we learn not to make a rash decision, but instead lean on the Lord for His understanding.

In waiting we learn to become more like Christ and less of our own self.

In waiting we learn perseverance.

In waiting we learn trust in the only One Who can give us the best for our lives.



It's good to wait.

It's good when the package doesn't arrive in two days - or two hours.

What has been learned and experienced in the meantime as we wait gives eternal gratification and satisfaction.

Welcome the wait.

Psalm 62:5

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.