Sometimes we must wait for God: Job 35:14-16

"The case is before Him, and you must wait for Him! And now, because He has not visited in His anger, nor has He acknowledged transgression well, so Job opens his mouth emptily; he multiplies words without knowledge." (Job 35:14-16)

We live in an instant society. We have microwave ovens to quickly warm our food. We have credit cards so we can purchase things with out waiting for the money. And we have cell phones that allow us to keep in instant contact with anyone anywhere. We are used to things happening quickly and we hate to wait. I have found myself even getting frustrated when my computer is slow and I have to wait for a web page to load. I think that most Americans, including myself, have lost the art of waiting.

We need to realize that God's sense of time is different than ours. We pray, and expect it to happen immediately. If our answer is not quick in coming, we get discouraged and loose faith. What Elihu is reminding us is that, when we cry out to God, our case comes before Him. He will answer us, but we may have to wait for it. Conceder the story about Daniel who prayed and fasted for 21 days for an answer from God. Finally the answer came in the form of an angle. The angle encouraged Daniel,

"Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. Now I have come to give you an understanding of what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to the days yet future." (Daniel 10:12-14)

God heard and answered Daniel the moment he prayed, but for reasons that Daniel could not foresee, the answer was delayed in coming. Job's problem was that he allowed his impatience to teach his mouth folly. Someone once said that faith is the ability to wait. Many times in our lives this is all too true. We need to learn to wait on God. To trust that He has heard us and will answer us. Job's answer was on its way. He just needed to wait a little while longer for it.

David Robison