Immediate Gratification - Not Having The Faith To Wait

“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” – Psalm 27:14

There is a recurring theme in the Bible.  Trusting God or trusting in ourselves.  Abram had waited on God to fulfill His promise in Genesis 15. 

“Then the word of the Lord came to him: ‘This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.’ He took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’” – Genesis 15:4-5

He and Sarah were impatient and did something on their own. Ishmael was born. (Genesis 16) But then something happened … there was a transaction of faith between Abram and God, and God gave Abram a new name .. Abraham .. father of many nations.  Both Abraham and Sarah laughed at the thought, but soon after, Sarah conceived.  (Genesis 17) It happened when it was impossible to give credit to men.  God received all of the glory. 

It’s the same way with us.  We know God’s promises, but are unwilling to wait on God.  We want to “make it happen”.  We are even willing to accept something less than God’s best because we lack the faith to wait. 

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.” – Hebrews 11:1

Faith is trusting in something you can’t see . .being convinced that it will come to pass, and then living … making choices in the context of that belief.  Faith becomes stronger when faith is exercised.  Are you facing something in your life that is testing your faith?  Testing your confidence in God?  It is a common malady for us Christians. 

There is or was a TV commercial for T.G. Wentworth where people receiving an annuity or settlement said “It’s my money and I want it now.”  To get some money,  they had to be willing to give up a great deal of their money.  To receive something today, they were willing to sacrifice what they would receive tomorrow.  They didn’t want to wait.  Another example is the businesses that do taxes for people and promise an immediate tax refund.  That is not the government’s money the tax payer receives, but the business provides the money at a significant cost to the tax payer.

“Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”  – Dr. Ravi Zaccharias

Is not waiting on God, sin?  We sure don’t want to think it is.  King Saul was unwilling to wait and it was accounted as sin.  He lost his kingdom. 

“Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering.  Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him. ‘What have you done?’ asked Samuel.” – 1 Samuel 15:7-11

We are unwilling to wait because we don’t trust God.  What is it that you are unwilling to wait for? Don't accept anything but God's best. Waiting on God will always be worth the wait.