Dr. Robin H. Kimbrough
One of our most precious possessions is our time. Once we devote our time to something, we cannot get it back. People put value on time paying $5 per hour or even $300 per hour. However, time is priceless, because time is the very essence of our lives. Although no one likes their time wasted, we engage in activities that waste our precious time. We waste time on thoughts, daydreaming, talking on the telephone, worrying, and other stuff when we could be making better use of our time. When someone is waiting on us, we may even take their time for granted. But when we are waiting on someone else, we want them to hurry up and stop wasting our time.
This is often true in our walk with God. Some of our prayers and requests from God are often (in our eyes) emergencies, when time is off the essence. We need God to act, and not waste any time on this situation. However, God is not impulsive. God is patient. God acts in his own time. For this reason (even though we may not like it), we have to wait on him. King Saul in a fierce battle with the Philistines, was suppose to wait on Samuel, the prophet, before making the sacrifice and going up to battle. But rather than waiting on Samuel, he decided to act on his on time. Like many of us, he thought he had given Samuel and God enough time and decided to do what he wanted to do. This turned out to be a waste of his time.
As a result of his impatience, Saul lost his position as King (I Samuel 13:1-14). We learn from King Saul’s rash decision that when we decide time is up for God (and for waiting on him), it becomes a waste of our time. Let us use our time wisely, and simply wait on God for everything. Let us not take matters into our own hands. The old saying is true—haste makes waste. While we are waiting on God, we must remain faithful and trust God for what he said that he would do. Waiting on God does not mean that we remain idle.
We must continue to serve God and do the things he has told us to do. In the mean time, permit God to work out the problem or situation in his own timing. We do not want to waste time on trying to do it ourselves or making impulsive decisions, because when we act in this manner, it is always a waste of time. We end up having to start all over again from ground zero, or even further back—because we made a bad situation worse. In retrospect, we realize that all the energy we put into the problem was a just a waste of time.
While we are waiting on God, let us not waste time on other people we think can help us out and have no genuine interest or skills or spirituality to deal with our situation. They are just a waste of time. Our God is so wonderful and gracious that even when we have spent minutes or even years on stuff that was a waste of time, he can turn back time and make up for it. Wait on God. Don’t waste your time.
