Be Patient and Wait
Have you ever prayed for something and then had to wait? Patience is a virtue, and it is something we need to have more of. We all want the pandemic to be over, but we had to wait as more and more people were vaccinated. Decades ago, author Catherine Marshall wrote, “Prayers, like eggs, don’t hatch as soon as we lay them.”
We live in a subdivision that has all kinds of wildlife. A couple months ago we had a mallard duck and hen lay a nest full of eggs. They have been doing this every year, and they always build their nest behind a bush at our neighbor’s house. It took a while, but the eggs hatched and eleven ducklings emerged. They brought these ducklings out to swim in our pond, and they have now disappeared. They did this last year and a few months later reappeared. The ducklings had grown and were more independent.
We bought two ferns for our front porch. One of them looked kind of puny, and I took it down to water to see if it was okay. To my surprise, there was a nest with three eggs in it. I watered the plant and put the hanging basket on its hook. We’ll just have to wait and let the eggs hatch and hope the plant survives.
The prophet Habakkuk wrestled with waiting on prayer. Habakkuk was frustrated with God’s silence over Babylon’s brutal mistreatment of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Habakkuk 2:1 says, “look to see what he will say to me,” and God tells Habakkuk to wait for the “appointed time.” (v. 3) God tells Habakkuk to “write down the revelation” so the word can be spread as soon as it is given. (v. 2) What God did not tell Habakkuk was that the “appointed time” when Babylon falls was six decades away. Like eggs, prayers don’t hatch immediately. They have to incubate in God’s will before God’s purposes for our world and our lives are revealed.
We must all learn to be patient! Practice patience in your prayer life!
Prayer: Dear God, help me to trust You to work while I’m waiting. Help me to obey God in what He has given me to do. Amen.
Habakkuk 2:3 – “Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”
By the Rev. Tommy Herndon
Image: Adobe iStock
