A watched pot never boils...

I have to be honest - waiting is not something I do very well.  Not at all.  Partially my personality, partially my gender, partially my fast-paced life - but I just don't like to slow down and wait.  But there's something worse than waiting - watching the pot for it to boil. 

We all know the saying a watched pot never boils.  And we all know that this is not true by any means.  But we do know that a watched pot seems to never boil.  It seems like when you watch the pot for it to boil, it takes easily twice as long.  I believe the same is true in many things: waiting for the phone to ring from that special someone, waiting for the loved one to come out of surgery, waiting for answers to prayers, and the list goes on. 

I've honestly had a lot of waiting going on in my life and I know that it's only going to get worse.  I feel like I'm always waiting on my family, not because they're slow but because I like to be early.  I feel like I'm always waiting on people to follow-thru on their promises.  It seems like I'm always waiting on God to answer my prayers. 

If you are in a time in your life when you're waiting perhaps this verse will work for you the way it has for me.  Very simply one of the psalms states be still and know that I am God. 

Now that's not an earth-shattering concept.  We all know that but rarely do we live that way.  We live as if we know best.  This verse means that the answer you are looking for might not be the right answer at all.  It means that if God is God then you are not!  So when you wait remember these two key things:

1. You are not God, so whatever answer comes - even if it's not the one you were hoping for - it's the one that God is going to work out for good. 
2. Be still! - This is just as hard as acknowledging that we're not God sometimes.  Be still might mean sitting in a quiet room and just doing nothing.  But that would drive my type-A personality nuts!  So for me, being still is doing nothing to pursue the answer I desire.  It's resting in the fact that whatever direction God will lead is ultimately the right direction.  Be still means that God's ways just might not be my ways and that's ok.  Be still happens when we are at peace when life is crumbling around us. 

So let God be God today.  Don't take his role on yourself, you couldn't do it anyway.  And just be still, whether it's in the quiet of your study or on the seat of your lawn mower.  Just be still in the presence of God today.  Today's prayer is on your shoulders - make you entire day a walking conversation with God.