by Larissa Odell

Waiting on the Lord.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1 NIV

When was the last time you asked for something from God in prayer? When was the last time you repeated that asking?

Any parent knows that their children are prone to asking for things from us. The answer is usually “yes,” “no,” or “we’ll see.” The “we’ll see” is tantamount to having to wait. Waiting is hard. During the waiting period, we tend to think that asking over and over again will make our request appear all that much sooner, or perhaps at least receive an answer sooner.

For myself, as a parent, it grows weary on me to have my child ask repeatedly for the same thing, when I’ve said we would get it later or I said we’ll see. I’ve often wondered how God can be so patient with us in our repeated requests. Fortunately, our God is a God of patience. The real problem is us and our lack of faith.

We are told that if we have the faith of a mustard seed we can move a mountain. So, where is our faith? Do we believe God doesn’t hear us the first time? Do we need to repeat ourselves over and over again? Once we make a request for something from God, we need to turn our faith into the faith of a child. Not just any childlike faith, but the faith a child has at Christmas time. They ask for something for Christmas, and the second the brightly colored packages are put around the tree, our children turn from asking to expecting.  They get all excited and can’t wait to open the presents on Christmas morning. You can hear it in their voices, “Oh goody, goody! I can’t WAIT for Christmas!” They can’t wait to see the things they have asked for.

We, need to take on this same expectancy once we have petitioned God. If we don’t get the clear signs of “no,” then we too need to turn to expectancy. The expectancy of a child at Christmas, and no matter how long we have to wait our attitude should be, “Oh goody, goody!” I can’t WAIT to see how God is going to do this.”

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado