Hurry, worry, wait! Most know the meaning of those two first words! It is an oft-repeated expression, "Oh, do make haste! I am in such a hurry, I cannot wait!" Does not hurry bring worry and cause wasted strength?
Do we not remember, when we were children, the spirit of impatience that prompted us to help the crocus out of its silver covering? We longed to see them expand, but, alas! our childish fingers hurried God's work and spoiled that which would have been beautiful, had it had the whole time He intended to give it in which to expand. How many children ask for the unripe fruit and will take no denial! It looks pretty, though green; it must be nice. But it is not yet ripe.
The past year plus may have been one of worry and unrest. And if we have yielded to this, our peace has been disturbed, our spirits fretted, and communion lost. Trials have come and gone; have we learned in any measure the truth of Isaiah 28:16, "He that believeth shall not make haste"? Believing in the Lord and His power gives patience, and the questioning spirit of “Why?” and “How?” is lulled to rest.
There is so much said about waiting on the Lord in the Scriptures — so much to encourage patience. “Wait on the Lord all the day” (Psa. 25:5; 27:14). God, not man, is in control of the affairs of our lives. “Wait thou only upon God” (Psa. 62:5).
No hurry, no worry, can we have, and patience can we have, if we “wait on the LORD.”
Christian Truth, Vol. 20 (adapted)