I’ve been thinking a lot lately about waiting on God’s timing. This topic seems to be at the forefront of scriptures I’m reading, things I’m studying, and conversations I’m having. And that’s all fine and dandy; patience is definitely a lesson I need to learn!

But this morning, another truth hit me as I was waiting on my youngest to get out of the car after we dropped his sister off at school. Y’all, the kid was taking his own sweet time.

He propped his foot on the bottom of the doorframe, then realized he needed to grab his jacket. Slowly — painstakingly slowly — he bent down to retrieve the coat. Then he decided he wanted to bring his gloves inside, so he (again, slowly) knelt down and reached for his gloves.

All the while, I’m standing there in the cold, holding the door and begging him to hurry up so we could get inside the warm house. I knew he didn’t need to be out in the 20-degree weather for too long. I knew what was best for him, yet he continued to drag his feet.

And then…BAM.

Isn’t that what I do with God? He’s waiting patiently for me to make my move, holding the door open and encouraging me to act. But I’m dragging my feet. Not taking that small step God has asked me to take.

Maybe I think I’m moving in the right direction, but, in reality, I’m standing still. Or moving so slow I might as well be going backward instead of toward the thing God has for me.

We preach about having patience and waiting on God’s timing (which I 100% agree with!), but sometimes, God’s the one doing the waiting.

He’s the one asking when we’re going to stop hiding behind our family, our fear, our job, our friends, our…whatever, and do. the. one. thing.

The difference between Him and us, though, is that He’s got unending patience. And He’ll keep on standing there, waiting for us to finally obey.

Did you know that it should have only taken the Israelites about 11 days to get to the Promised Land from Egypt? 11 days! A journey that took them 40 YEARS should have been completed in less than two weeks!

But because the Israelites continued to distrust and disobey God, they wandered for years and years. If they’d just trusted God all along and done what He told them, they would have received their reward much sooner.

See, God didn’t break his promise. He still gave them the land. It was their own sin that caused all the trouble.

So what about me? Am I doing what I already know to do from God’s Word? Trusting him, telling people about him, loving my neighbors? And then am I doing the specific things he’s asked of me outside of that?

Honestly, the answer isn’t always yes. In fact, most of the time it’s no.

But I want to change that. I want to obey. God has done SO much for me. That’s the least I could do in return.

I don’t want to wander for 40 years.