Be Thankful for the Wait

I've been thinking a lot this week about how it seems that most of life is a period of waiting between the start and the finish of something, whether it's the time between graduation and getting a job, or between the work and the paycheck, or between engagement and marriage, or even between diagnosis and the cure.  It seems like we're always waiting for those God-ordained endings to the waiting period, and many times, we feel they can't come soon enough...but aren't the wait times also ordained by God?

Don't get me wrong; I believe that God is good, kind, and abundantly generous, but sometimes He teaches us things by delaying gratification, so to speak.  I personally know that I wouldn't be the person that I am now if God had not worked on me over a period of years.  Sometimes learning and growth doesn't happen without pressure.

This reminds me of a passage in first Peter, explaining why trials (and that can include long waits) are a good thing, that we should be thankful for--not take for granted!  I'll leave you with that passage, since I'm short on time this evening. I hope it is something you need this week!

In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.  Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1Peter 1: 6-9 NIV)