I know patience is a virtue, but God, could you please hurry up?!

You don't know how many times this thought crossed my mind after being in the hospital with my daughter for nearly 6 months. I knew He wanted to teach me so many things through it all, that He had a plan for it all happening the way it was, but I must admit I was frustrated, weary and tired sometimes until I just wanted Him to "hurry up" and show me what all the "not knowing" was all about. Little did I know, but He did, that March 8, 2008 would be the exact day that He would end all her suffering, completely heal her little body and take her home. We prayed for the Lord's will to be done, and although it wasn't really the results I was specifically praying for, He still answered (although in a diffrent way) and proved Himself faithful. I know you've heard me tell all this before, but when I read devotions like the one below, I don't think repeating the past is unimportant.

I hope you will read the devotion below with an open heart and mind. If there's something in your life that you're rushing, pushing God about (by the way, I hate to break it to you, He won't be rushed :), or maybe just giving up hope on, please know that God will come through for you in HIS time. Not always very comforting when it could take 25 years as it did for Sarah, but nevertheless, He proved Himself faithful!

"God, Could You Please Hurry?" by Amy Carroll

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." Ecclesiastes 3: 11 (NIV)

Those of us that have lived in rural areas know that tractors on the road are a fact of life. However, just because they are a fact of life doesn't make them any less irritating if you're in a hurry! I followed a tractor down one of our narrow two-lane roads recently. At one point I completely lost my patience for its pace and started yelling (unheard--thank goodness), "Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!" It didn't speed up the tractor at all.

How many times have I approached God's timing the same way? And it never hurries Him up either.

I admit God often does not operate at a pace that pleases me, and I want Him to hurry, hurry, hurry! I'm thinking Sarah, Abraham's wife, felt the same way. After waiting 10 years for a baby that God had promised Abraham (read Genesis 12-21 for the complete story), Sarah decided to "help" God. Surely 10 years was too long for anybody to wait. So Sarah gave her maidservant Hagar to her husband, and the two of them had a child. Soon the two women were at odds. Talk about a soap-opera! Finally, fifteen years later, the child promised by God to Abraham and Sarah was born. God was not late. His timing was perfect. It was Sarah who was in a hurry and rushing things, but she found out that there was a price to pay for manipulating her circumstances.

I know Sarah and I are not alone in our desire for God to hurry up. I once heard it said that we are people with gods on our wrists.

In Isaiah 55:9, God says, "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (NIV) God's timing is part of His ways. I may be tapping my watch, but He is never late. He may seem slow, but He is always right on time.

Has God made a promise to you that is slow in coming? Has He planted a dream in your heart that has yet to come to fruition? Don't give up hope! God is faithful, and you can rely on His perfect timing. Fix your eyes on Him and enjoy the journey to your destination. There are things to be learned along the way that will enhance the joy of a promise fulfilled.

Dear Lord, sometimes I don't understand your timing. It's often very hard to wait, but I trust You. I want to rely on Your ways and Your timing. Help me to learn what I need to learn as I wait. In Jesus' name, Amen.