Have you ever wanted something so bad you couldn’t sleep… You couldn’t think about anything else but that one thing! 

I remember the night before I turned sixteen.  I wanted to get my drivers license so bad I couldn’t sleep all night long.  I was so excited. I didn’t care if all I had to drive was my Dad’s white 1980 Mercury Grand Marquis with tan velor seats!! It may have had an 8 Track player in it too!! (By the way I took my driver’s test in that tank – and passed).

Many a year has past since that day.  And the moments of waiting just keep on adding up.  Just about every mile marker in life has a moment or two that I’ve waited with anxious thoughts and nerves for something to come about.  

There are some that stick out in my mind as if they happened yesterday.  The ones I’m thinking of right now are those times I was restless because God wasn’t working on my time table.  I was desiring some sort of ministry, job change, answered prayer, vision, or something I was planning to hurry up and get here.  I can’t tell you how many times I acted when I should have continued to prepare myself for what was yet to come.  To do that one activity we all enjoy so much of – waiting!

In James chapter 1, The Message puts it this way, “You know under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows it’s true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so that you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way… Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who ‘worry their prayers’ are like wind-whipped waves.”

In a way, I am there once again.  Not looking for any real drastic changes but I do know God is at work in my life.  He’s working in a way right now that feels real good and leaves me with a great sense of expectation for the days ahead.  If I’m not careful I will lose the real focus God wants for my life. 

I like the way Oswald Chambers puts it, “Whenever we insist that God should give us an answer to prayer we are off track. The purpose of prayer is that we get ahold of God, not of the answer.”

In retrospect, those times of waiting on God are found memories.  It’s interesting to see the life lessons He has taught me along the way.  I can see now those times I rushed ahead and did what God wanted but maybe ahead of his time table.  I wasn’t fully prepared or equipped for the task as a result.  Which ultimately brought some unnecessary frustration.

Are you hoping for God to do something?  Are you ready for it?  Are you like an anxious parent ready to see your baby for the first time face to face? If you are in that place now keep your eyes on the Master.  Get prepared. Then live it. He has great plans for your life!

Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (NLT).