Resisting The When

Resisting the When

How long, O LORD, must I call for help? Habakkuk 1:2

FAITH AND PATIENCE ARE ALMOST ALWAYS two sides of the same coin, and we often find ourselves in the gap between receiving a promise and experiencing its fulfillment. Sometimes that gap can be excruciatingly long. We ask a lot of questions during those waits. How long until you answer, Lord? When are you going to fulfill your promise? Did I misunderstand it? Though we know prayer isn’t a formula—we don’t get answers from God the same way we make a withdrawal at a drive-thru ATM—we’re still a bit disappointed it doesn’t work that way. We just don’t know how long we can wait or why we even have to.

Asking God when is a natural response, but like our questions about why, it is rarely answered on our schedule. God is doing a lot of important work in the process, and he doesn’t sacrifice thoroughness for the sake of speed. That is painfully clear in the lives of many biblical heroes of faith: Abraham, Joseph, the enslaved Israelites in Egypt, David, many of the prophets, exiles in Babylon, and entire segments of the church through long periods of persecution. Even now, we wait for Jesus’ return with the assurance that God is not slow in keeping his promise (2 Peter 3:9). We have to persevere in faith.

God will let us in on what he is doing, however. Many of his promises begin with a vision of something specific, and we are invited to take hold of that vision by faith. Our faith may be tried and tested, pushed and pulled, stretched and strained, but that is by design. We either give up or draw closer to God. He uses the process to cultivate our relationship with him.

Recognize the difference between passing time and waiting patiently. There’s nothing godly about enduring when you have no choice—everyone does that—but enduring without anxiety or complaint requires spiritual maturity. Persevering faith—the kind that trusts God in the process and expects his goodness in the end—obtains his promises. Those who abandon the when and fix their eyes on God are sustained by and rewarded for their faith.

The ability to wait, and stay, and press belongs essentially to our intercourse with God.