God patiently waits for our return to Him.

Written by Desiree Bustamante

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

“So the Lord must wait for you to come to him
    so he can show you his love and compassion.
For the Lord is a faithful God.
    Blessed are those who wait for his help.”
Isaiah 30:18 New Living Translation

We just missed crossing the tracks before this train came. The gate came down, preventing the truck ahead of us from crossing, and we were stuck behind him. We had to wait for around seven minutes for the train to pass through, the arms to lift, and be allowed to cross.

In fact, just before we stopped at this crossing, we were almost hit by an impatient driver who ran a stop sign trying to get across the tracks before the train arrived. A serious accident could have happened, all because of impatience.

It’s hard to wait sometimes. We don’t have a lot of patience for train crossings, other people, and even God. We want everything now, and pride ourselves on being independent, choosing our own path to benefit us. We say we love God, but often we choose to follow our own way and not His way. We talk ourselves into believing that our way is what He wants, even when it defies His word. Our impatience can make a train wreck of our lives.

However, our Lord waits. He waits for us to repent, to turn back from the tracks of sin we are on, and be transformed by Him. He is patient when we are not. He is faithful when we are not.

Many people do not understand or receive the compassion and grace God offers.  Some lay heavy burdens upon themselves by struggling with guilt. They won’t accept that God’s desire is to help, heal, and show mercy.  Some just don’t feel they deserve it, because of past sins.

Sometimes this comes from pride.  We think we can do it. We can manage our lives, and fix our messes.  It often takes suffering to get us on our knees, desperately reaching toward God and asking Him for help.  He created us to need, and depend on, Him and Him alone. He knows better than we do how much we need His grace and compassion.

Go to Him with all your heart. God is patiently waiting, and promises to forgive, heal, and restore you.

He is lovingly waiting for YOU!

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado