Patience, grasshopper.

 Comedians have this wonderful way of packaging up the human condition. They have this ability to poke fun at the flaws of our existence. The late comedian Mitch Hedberg once said, “I’m sick of following my dreams. I’ll just ask them where they’re going and hook up with ‘em later.”

I have never found a more relatable joke in my life because I myself am a procrastinator. Hedberg wrote this to get a laugh out of every self-aware slacker in his audience, but what he was really doing was pointing out the incredible rift in the human soul between dreams and reality. There is nothing more evident in our culture today than to desire “success” and yet suffer the impatience and lack of discipline keeping us from it. Ponzi schemes are born on the backs of people wanting to make something of themselves, but not committed to understanding the cost, or even, the purpose. 

Much like Hedberg’s observation about human industry—or the lack thereof— is the narrow, lonely walk in Christ. Christians are constantly being tempted to take matters into their own hands because God is not moving “fast enough.” The Bible is filled with examples showing how the people of God are consistently impatient, prone to complain and even engage in outright rebellion against God  because of the circumstances surrounding them in the natural world which seemingly stand in stark contrast to His promises. Here are a few examples:

1. The Israelites raise a golden calf while Moses was up on Mount Sinai, because he simply told them to “wait” but he didn’t say for how long. 

2. Sarah offers up her maid Hagar to her husband Abraham to fulfill God’s promise of a son, because childbirth seemed naturally impossible for her at her age.

3. Jacob — in his youth — deceives his father and brother to scheme his way into an inheritance God promised, instead of attaining it honestly.

The above examples just scratch the surface of humanity’s perpetual problem with impatience. There’s many more stories like it in which the people of God repeat the same mistake. The vast expanse of God’s patience and mercy in dealing with us comes to life in every chapter of the Bible, but our human condition requires that we STILL be reminded because of how quickly we forget. 

In all of these stories, a common theme prevails: God tells us about his future blessings before he gives them to us-- and it’s not immediately before. Wouldn’t it just be easier to sit back and rest if God said, “Hey, in three days that stock you picked is going to blow up and you’ll be a millionaire?” Believing God’s promises would require absolutely no faith at all if you were given plain directions, a short wait time and a sure, guaranteed thing from the beginning. In each of the stories mentioned, there is an undisclosed wait time seated with the receiver of the promise. That wait time serves as an awakening agent. It is something meant to prompt the receiver to listen for God’s voice, search for Him, and  be sensitive to His commands. That wait time requires the listener to follow the Lord’s promptings. It requires humility to obey and courage to act— or stand still. 

Sometimes God leads us to his promises precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little (Is. 28:10). These little directions drawn out over the course of time remind me of Jesus feeding the 5,000. Jesus could have easily made it rain and pelted the crowd with round loaves of sourdough. He could have easily made a ship carrying a mountain of fresh fish crash right onto the shore. Jesus, however, chose to take the humble offerings of a young boy, give thanks to the Father, and pass them around. I wonder when the people realized they were actually participating in Jesus’ miracle. At what point do you go from thinking this is just an ordinary circumstance to believing that God’s hand is involved in this very moment? Each time, someone placed a hand in the basket, and each time, that person withdrew a new piece of sustenance. The miracle didn’t happen all at once. When you reach out your hand to receive what God has for you, He will be faithful to provide. But receiving from the hand of God requires reaching. 

Receiving from God also requires obedience. Elisha encountered an unnamed widow in 2 Kings 4 in desperate need of financial help. When given instructions, this widow wasn’t privy to the specifics of how Elisha would help her. She just immediately — without question —began to carry out the instructions. We’re not always in a place of neediness like this woman. Her desperation relegated her to a level of humility that caused her to override the instinct to question the instruction given to her. In the same way, in every moment —needy or not —we should be ready and willing to obey the divine instructions given to us. 

So, what does reaching look like?

Jeremiah 29:13: “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”

Psalm 34:4-5:  “I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.”

Proverbs 3:5-6:  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

 What does obedience look like?

James 1:22:  “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

Proverbs 10:17: “Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, but he who rejects reproof leads others astray.”

1 John 2:17: “And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

Reaching is spending devoted time in His Word and in prayer. Reaching for God is falling in love with His presence and craving it more. The pursuit of God — in response to his pursuit of us — is the act of wanting to be closer to Him and be more like Him.

Obeying God is being faithful with the little instructions we’re given. Such obedience requires letting go of old habits, ways of thinking and actions that are not in line with God’s Word. Obedience also means saying “no” to temptation and things that satisfy our need for immediate relief.  In addition, being obedient to God means making room in our hearts for more of His qualities. And lastly, obedience means following those little pushes and corrections God gives us along our journey. 

What a comfort it is to know a God who —unlike man —cannot lie! How sweet it is to know that our Lord loves us, has a plan for our lives and has redeemed us for every good work He will carry out-in His time!