Patience is a virtue while waiting on God's blessings
"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 how each patient waited differently. Some sat thumbing through the pages of a magazine. Others walked around or paced back and forth, unable to sit still. Some sat wringing their hands.
If the doctor was running behind schedule, many people would go to the front desk and complain about the wait. Some got angry and screamed about it. Others, after waiting only a short time, got up and left.
As I write this, I am in God's waiting room, waiting for some answers to prayer. You may be sitting in his waiting room, too. As we submit our plans, petitions and requests to God in prayer, he asks us to take a seat and be still until the answers come.
Like waiting to see the doctor is difficult, it is hard 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 our 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 for the doctor to treat their ailment?
To "let be and be still" doesn't necessarily mean we never do anything. Being passive or lazy is not what God is referring to here. He wants us to be still from worry and to let be from taking matters in our hands and utilizing wrong ways of handling them.
He is also teaching us patience. I believe the sooner we learn these things, the shorter our waiting time may be.
Our Heavenly Father has promised to take good care of us. If we could understand God's timing, we could better cooperate with him. If we are going to enjoy the blessings, we have to learn to let go and allow God to bring us something greater than we could imagine in his time.
• Annettee Budzban is an author, speaker, life coach and nurse. She will be speaking Sept. 28 at the women's fall gathering at Holy Cross church in Cary. Women interested in attending should email conventionchairman@lwmlnid.org for more information. Annettee is available to speak to your church group, business, civic organization or be your personal life coach. She can be contacted at Annetteebudzban@aol.com or (847) 543-8413.