Early the following spring, in the month of Nisan, during the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was serving the king his wine. I had never before appeared sad in his presence.
This week we are reminding ourselves about the spiritual discipline of waiting. When God makes us wait, we have to learn to trust he is still working.
Read Nehemiah 2:1-10. Do you like waiting? When you’re in a queue in the supermarket, do you remain super cool and relaxed? Or do you start getting fidgety if the line is moving too slow? Does your blood start to boil if you’re stuck behind a slow-moving vehicle for too long? Or what about waiting for that must-have Amazon delivery you’re desperate for?
Life is full of waiting. Sometimes, God makes us wait too. Imagine what spoiled human beings we would be if he answered every prayer we made immediately! There would be no need for faith! No need for trust! Our faith would never be tested.
But God sometimes makes us wait. Nehemiah waited. It was the month of Kislev when he heard about the state of Jerusalem’s walls. He was so desperately sad about it he must have wanted to go straight to the king and demand to be allowed to go and rebuild them.
But he waited until God told him it was the right time to act. That was four months later. Nehemiah had to endure a long winter of waiting first. But whilst he waited, God worked in the mind and heart of the king.
When we’re waiting, we can’t always see God working. But we can trust that he is. Whilst you pray, whilst you long for a change in your circumstances, whilst you wait for things to change, God is working!
THINK IT OVER
Think about the following:
How does practising patient waiting grow your faith?