Be still, wait for God's answer to our prayers

"Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God."

- Psalm 46:10 (AMP)

I used to manage a doctor's office. As I walked through the waiting room, I observed that each patient had a different method of waiting.

Some people sat thumbing through pages of magazines. Others paced back and forth, unable to sit still. Some sat wringing their hands.

If the doctors were running behind and the waiting time increased, many came up to the desk and complained they had to wait. Others gave up and left. This example shows how many of us act in our times of waiting for a breakthrough.

Right now we are in God's waiting room, waiting on some answers to prayer. As we submit our plans and concerns to God in prayer, he asks us to take a seat and be still until the answers come.

It's difficult to wait for "The Great Physician" to answer a problem that is eating away at our minds and emotions. But, he asks us to be still and wait because he is working on things that don't make sense to our human reasoning.

When emotions take over, we don't always make good decisions. I think about the patients who left the doctor's office due to their impatience. What complications may have arisen because they wouldn't wait long enough to allow the doctor to treat their ailment?

To "let be and be still" doesn't mean we never do anything. Being passive and lazy is not what God is referring to. He wants us to be still from worry and to stop taking matters in our hands and sinful ways of handling them.

He is also teaching us patience. I believe the quicker we learn these things, the shorter our waiting time may be.

Our Heavenly Father has promised to take care of us. If we are going to walk in obedience to God and enjoy his blessings, we have to learn to let go of our timing and our ways and allow God to bring us something far greater than we could imagine, but in his time.

• Annettee Budzban is a Christian author, speaker, life coach, and nurse. She can be contacted at annetteebudzban@aol.com. She is available to speak to your church group, business or organization, or be your personal coach.