"Staying Patient and Keeping the Faith in God's Waiting Room," Romans 4: 13--25; Pastor Richard Strode Sr
We live in a time when we want our needs met immediately and if we believe commercials, it is possible based on the "right connections" or that money can buy anything is important to you.
We find in Paul's study of Abraham's life what is really important to us comes when we faithfully and patiently trust the Lord's providence and timing. It is doubtful any of us had to wait as long as Abraham to begin a new career path (age 75) or start a family (age 100) waiting for God's promises to become reality. Life is full of "waiting rooms." We wait for appointments, wait for others to do what is necessary and even wait in the emergency room but we expect and sometimes demand an immediate response to our prayers. Sometimes God's response is "not yet."
So sometimes we get ahead of God's timing and take matters into our own hands because we want to be in control of life's situations. We fail to immediately realize that patience is God's means to develop our faith and let God take control of our lives. We must live what we say when we say Jesus is our Lord and Savior by trusting the Lord to keep promises based on promises already kept for our well-being. We must learn to rejoice in anticipation, thanking God for deliverance even in the midst of the storm. Faith is seen before the fact; gratitude is after the fact.
