John K. Jenkins Sr - The Benefits of Patiently Waiting

Psalm 40 discusses the benefits of patiently waiting. This Psalm was designed for our modern «get it right now» culture. You might not want to admit it, but we live in an instant culture where we must have what we want right now or today. Waiting isn’t even a word in the vocabulary of this modern technological society that demands immediate gratification. I thought about the fact that there was a time when our forefathers had to wait weeks or months for answers to their inquiries. Today, you can hop on the internet while sitting wherever you are and get an answer instantly. If you needed to wash clothes or cook with water back in the day, you would have to walk down to the creek-many of you might not know anything about this — bring the water back, and if you wanted hot water, you’d have to gather wood and build a fire. Please stop clapping; you don’t know anything about that. If you wanted biscuits, Mama would have to make them from scratch. There were no easy-bake products, no Pillsbury Doughboy-just roll out the dough, stick it in the oven, and wait; no quick fixes. It was all from scratch.

Whether we realize it or not, there are benefits to learning how to wait for certain things. When I first got married 31 years ago to my beautiful bride, my wife, we moved into our small place with just a bed. We didn’t need much more than that. Come on, don' t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about! We slowly had to fill our home, gradually acquiring couches, chairs, and a dinette set. However, in today’s society, people want to move into fully furnished homes but often end up going into debt to do it; they stretch themselves financially instead of learning to be patient.

I thought I ought to talk today because I believe there are people who are going through something, perhaps having endured it for a while. Quietly kept, even if you don’t verbalize it, deep down in your heart and mind, you might have questions about why God hasn’t responded to your situation more quickly. If you all say " Amen» together, nobody will know I’m talking about you. Deep down, you might wonder why God has promoted someone else but not you, or why someone else got a job while you didn’t. You might be asking why you are struggling; why is your marriage in trouble? Why did someone else get married while your knight in shining armor has yet to appear? In fact, everyone who shows up seems to be a rusty joker, not the prince you hoped for. What is wrong? Why isn’t God responding?

So I thought I would take a few moments to tell you today that there are benefits to patiently waiting on God. I want to highlight the fact that if we maintain the right attitude and spirit while waiting for God to resolve our dilemmas, we will recognize the benefits of waiting on the Lord. In fact, I appreciate what this text reveals: David, the psalmist, starts off the very first verse by showing us the benefits of what has happened in his own life. We don’t know exactly when this occurred, but he testifies, " I waited patiently for the Lord.» I like that. Now, let’s clarify what he waited for: he waited patiently for the Lord.

Some of us are waiting on the wrong people or things. He waited for the Lord. We must focus on who we are waiting for; our mindset must be correct. We cannot look to Capitol Hill, our senators, or congresspeople, nor to the governor or city council. We cannot put our hope in our spouses or bank accounts. We must wait patiently for the Lord, Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides. He said, «I waited patiently.» This phrase is a complex Hebrew term, so intricate that it takes two English words to describe it: it means to be in a position of hope and expectation. It signifies maintaining a posture of hope while being expectant. Someone say «hopeful.»