Day 9 The “Waiting” Lesson

The “Waiting” Lesson

Our world is fast paced and has finely tuned us to be the same. Once we were patient in a long queue; now we have little patience. Once we wouldn’t mind being “on hold” on the phone; now our impatience grows by the second as we wait “forever” for the other person to get back on the line.
Part of God’s working in our lives involves waiting. It’s a lesson God will repeat over and over.
Anyone who reads older missionary stories will be struck by the long periods of time God’s choicest men and women were left stranded in places – sometimes for months! There was little they could do. God wanted them to learn to wait.
In Acts 24:26 and 27 we read that Paul spent two years waiting in a Caesarea prison for his case to be heard. Two years! Did he write any of his amazing letters while waiting? Not as far as we know. All Acts tells us is that through this time Paul met a few times with the Roman governor, Felix. The rest of the time he just waited. There was nowhere he could go and prisoners were not given “prison duties.”
Watchman Nee was China’s best known Bible teacher. But from his final arrest in 1952 until his death in 1972, almost nothing is known about him. We know he suffered beatings and torture at the hands of communist Chinese authorities but not much more. God allowed His wonderful servant to wait in prison for twenty years because Nee refused to renounce Christ.
If you want to be used of God, prepare for times of waiting – long times of waiting. This is one lesson God won’t let you sidestep.

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