I was standing over the stove top cooking the Chicken Tarragon when I felt my impatience grow. The timer was set to brown each breast filet for 4 minutes on a side. The three boneless breasts huddled next to each other in the cast iron frying pan while I watched the timer tick away the minutes. I had already measured and set out the other ingredients so the only thing left to do was WAIT.

     The timer seemed to move at a snail’s pace. I watched the seconds count down on the timer.

     I’ve made this dish countless times, and I don’t ever remember being so impatient for four little minutes to pass. I began wondering as I noticed my impatience growing to turn those brown filets, “How could I be so antsy?”

     Then I realized that if I could be so impatient over four mere minutes, no wonder I was having such a  hard time waiting on the Lord for Him:
     * to answer my prayers,
     * to meet my needs,
     * to settle my anxious heart,
     * to move in the circumstances of my life
     * and to accomplish His purpose in my trials so that they would be over.

     “Get a grip, Janis,” I told myself. “Stop staring at the timer. Soon enough it will be time to flip those chicken breasts.”

     Unfortunaetley, God’s timer is not usually set to just four minutes. Sometimes it’s four days, four months, four years, or four ever.  And we have to WAIT. So while we are waiting, we need to stop staring at the timer. We need to turn our attention on the Lord and:
     * spend time with Him in prayer
     * read and meditate on His word
     * be busy about the Lord’s work which He has prompted us to do
     * be prepared to encourage others along the journey
     * persevere in faith
     * live so He is glorified in our lives

     As I was looking up the word “wait” in the Bible, I could not believe how many times it is used in various books and passages. Sometimes it means that we need to wait on the Lord, sometimes it means to wait before we act, and sometimes it is used to say that if we wait to act, we are showing a lack of faith.

     In each situation in our lives where we are waiting, we must seek the Lord to determine what His desire is for us.

     I’m a long way from making progress in this “waiting room of the Lord’s.” My anxious heart wants answers and direction yesterday. So I need to heed what I have posted here. Look to His word and learn how to wait.

     “Morning by morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; morning by morning I lay my requests before you and WAIT  IN EXPECTATION.” PSALM 5:3 NIV.

     Do you have a favorite Scripture that talks about waiting on the Lord? Please share it with us.

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