in waiting

Romans 12:12 
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.


As simple as the author wrote, it’s a simple matter of a fact statement. But there is an element of challenge to it.

How far, just how far, would YOU go for your friends?
So you’re going to meet up with a friend. Say, by the train station exit. You get there, about 2-5 minutes early. And you wait. You look at your watch, it’s now the time that you and friend agreed to meet. You look around, and see no sign of friend. Then 10 minutes pass, still no show. 15 minutes, 20, then 30. Sure in this day and age, there are things like mobile phones: a quick phone call to see where your friend is, or a text message just in case your friend is driving. But what if your friend doesn’t have a phone? Or forgot the phone? Or the mobile ran out of battery? Or nobody is picking up the phone?
Would you still wait? Would you still stand there waiting after 30 minutes? 45 minutes? And hour? Even still, no form of communication?
How far would you go, in terms of waiting?

I’ve asked this question to a few of my friends. Most would give it 30 minutes, some an hour. You also have to take into consideration how close of a friend this friend was.
Some say that if this friend is well-known for having issues with punctuality, they’d expect that from them.
Others say that if this has happened on many occasions, just to you... then that friend is just disrespecting you, disrespecting your time. Doesn’t respect this friendship. Expects you to keep waiting [with no communication, on their part, though they could communicate, they just don't....]
You would be unforgiving, wouldn’t you?
In theory, you say you’d be ok, but if this has actually happened to you, after an hour or maybe two hours of waiting... you certainly grow very annoyed.

What about waiting on God? How long can you wait for?

You asked God, in prayer, for something.
Maybe it was for God to heal someone’s mother--who has been in a coma for several years.
Maybe you asked God to bless you with a spouse.
Maybe you asked God to provide a way for you to go on to the mission field.
Maybe you asked God to save the family members and to receive salvation.
Maybe you asked God to bless you with a baby.
Maybe you just want the time to pass by quickly so you can hurry up and not wait around for this special day to happen etc.
Whatever it is, our patience is certainly tested.

Then you see someone else healed, yet that other person is not.
You attend someone’s wedding, perhaps that person getting married is in their 30s or 40s.
You learn about someone getting funding and being sent off within 6 months to the mission field, absolutely everything falling in to place.
Several thousand people believe, yet your family still don’t.
Suddenly there’s a baby boom and everyone around you is having babies.
etc.

Sure, our patience is tested even more, when you see that God is answering prayers for other people, but just not answering YOUR prayers.
How annoyed does that make you feel? Jealous much? sure!

Yet in the bible, we are STILL told to be joyful in hope. Not hope begrudgingly. Not “I hope so... but bleh” type of hope. It’s to be joyful IN hope. Have hope that is positive and joyful.

We are STILL told to be patient in affliction. Nobody likes waiting around. Affliction meaning times of distress, grief, bad times, misery, sickness etc. just generally negative times. And through this, be patient  because things can only get better.

And lastly. Faithful in prayer. Continue to be faithfully praying, in communication to God.
Like keep calling that friend up when you’re waiting for them.
Keep calling on God, keep talking.

He might be telling you that you need to wait, He’s coming. But if you don’t communicate with Him, you won’t know what He’s telling you.

Patience IS a virtue, yes. Virtue as a good thing, righteous thing.
But praying faithfully and joyful hope, is like the cream-of-the-crop icing on a righteous and delicious cake.