I am a terribly impatient woman.

Last week on a very busy evening in my family’s life, I picked up pizza from Domino’s pizza so that my family could eat supper.  I had a meeting until after 6 pm, and the huz and kids had committed to working on tech for the upcoming high school play.

As I waited for my order to cook, I updated my Facebook status.

First thought: Maybe Domino’s and I have a different idea of fast.
Second thought: They still made dinner faster than I would have.

As I listened to Genesis 11-21, I realized that I resonated with Sarah who thought that giving Hagar to Abraham was a good way to allow for God’s promise of a great nation to come about.  Listening to the ages of the people in the stories and the years that they wandered, lived, and waited for God’s promise of an heir, I initially wanted to scold Sarah for her attempt to circumvent God’s best plan. But I realized that I would probably have done the same thing.

They had been married for long enough that she should have had several children.

They were old enough, and others around them had children.

The more I listened, the more I realized that I am not unlike Sarah in my impatience, but I am also like her in my laughing when God comes through much later than I thought He should.

In Chapter 18, the Lord showed up and told Abraham that Sarah would be the mother of the great nation even though Hagar had already birthed Ishmael. 

Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year,and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already very old,and Sarah was past the age of childbearing.So Sarah laughedto herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lordis old, will I now have this pleasure?”

Have you ever been so shocked at how God keeps His promises that you have had to laugh?  I wonder if He just shakes His head at us and wonders when we will learn.  We have the stories of Biblical characters as well as friends and mentors – over and over again, God keeps His promises to us.

He cares for our needs.

He sent His son to die for us.

He sends comfort and peace that we cannot understand in horrible circumstances.

But honestly, I often wonder if God and I have a different idea of how those promises look and when they should be revealed. 

Even so – just like with my pizza last week, I know for a fact that God’s way is so much better than my way. 

He has proven this to me time and again.  I have an idea of how something should go, and I get frustrated when it doesn’t go my way.  But when I look back on the situation, I am so thankful that God had it in His hands, His will, and His timing because it was best.

How has God shown Himself to be faithful to you?  What does waiting on the Lord look like to you?

———————————————————————————————————

Please note that Blogging Through the Bible has its own blog site. It is being dually published here because I want to share it with my areavoices.com peeps.