1587 In the 40

We want it all right now, but right now is rarely God’s timing. God doesn’t require more time, yet he usually takes time. Why is that? Why does the God who CAN create anything and everything in an INSTANT with one word, take so much time to do the things we’re waiting on? Why does he have you still waiting on what he could have easily already done?

Answer: He is gracious.

In our human minds, making us wait doesn’t seem gracious, but in God’s eternal view of the beginning and end of our lives, he sees waiting from a different perspective.

Isaiah 30: 18 MSG “But God’s not finished – he’s waiting around to be gracious to you. God takes time to do everything right. Those who wait for him are the lucky ones.”

God is taking time to do everything just right for you. So, here’s an idea … how about we stop being a brat about the wait! How about we trust God when he offers us grace in the wait and promise for the future.

I’m currently waiting. Waiting for a breakthrough I’ve been praying over for years. I have no evidence of God’s grace at work in the wait because on the surface it looks like wasted years and worsening conditions. But 2 Corinthians 5:7 reminds me that I live by faith, not by sight. By believing, not by seeing. Here in the wait, I’m learning how to live. These are things I don’t learn in instantaneous results. When I don’t have to wait, I see what I want instantly, and faith is not required. Only God could orchestrate a wait that is for my benefit like this. Indeed, he is gracious.

And I bet God is being gracious to you as well. He’s making you wait. And here in the wait, he is showing you how to truly live. Live by faith because you certainly can’t see it. Live by believing because you have no evidence of the promises still to be fulfilled in your future. And this faith that is growing in you is making you righteous!

All of this is part of the process of becoming who God created you to be. He created you to be a girl of deep faith. He created you to be a girl who believes in the unseen. All this waiting has you growing into that girl! God started something so good in you and he will not stop until his work is complete. And he’s completely content taking his time in the work of you to do it just right. God’s not rushing, so you can stop rushing.

I would choose to rush through the wait and get to the part where my prayers are answered and we live in our happy ending … but I would be wishing away valuable years of life where God is doing his greatest work. Here, in the wait, he is working.

Here, in the in between … you know, in between where you once were and where you want to be, this is where God takes time to do everything right. We’re trying to rush it, but God’s timing is perfect. God will not cut corners on your life. He won’t skip steps that will teach you how to live in the fullness of life Jesus came to offer you. And what he really wants is for you to understand the wait is not being wasted and the future is not being delayed. This time is for a purpose and for your benefit.

Your 41 will come. Yes, your 41. Do you know about your 41? Oh you have to know! It’s on it’s way to you. On the other side of this wait when you have learned to walk by faith and not by sight, you step into your 41.

Until then, you’re somewhere in your 40. 40 is the wait. 40 is space between where you once were and where you want to be.

Have you ever noticed the reoccurring number 40 in scripture? 40 is a time of wait.