I don’t like to wait. No one EVER said I am a patient person. The following devotional showed up in my email to remind me that waiting is not wasting time. While I’m waiting, God isn’t – he’s working with us. Lord, teach me what you would have me learn while I am waiting. Enjoy this devotional from Jennifer Studio at (in)courage.com.

“Therefore the LORD is waiting to show you mercy, and is rising up to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. All who wait patiently for Him are happy.” (Isaiah 30:18, HCSB)

If we are honest, we don’t like to wait. We are a society of microwaves, texting, fast food, and express lanes. Anything that is quick. We think waiting is a waste of our time. We like to be in control, but sometimes it takes the quiet of waiting to see we are not in control. God is in control. He is changing us.

We forget that while we are waiting, God is working. God’s ways are not our ways and sometimes that is hard to understand. He is always at work. He can accomplish great things in our hearts as we wait. His ways. His perfect timing. Waiting is never wasted time.

Rather than worrying about what the next thing might be, start looking at right now with Him. The wonderful reality is we are waiting in His presence. He is with us. We endure with Him now. We don’t have to do it alone. Accept there is a reason you have to wait and wait with Him.

There is a beautiful gift of learning and growth in the waiting. Lessons from an ever loving God. The wait can show us things we would not understand in any other way.

It is in that waiting we can see God’s mercy and compassion find us. Whatever mess we have gotten into or whatever we are trying to work through or whatever we are waiting for. His mercy is real. Despite struggles and mistakes and feeling unworthy . . . He is good. He is faithful. He is compassionate. He won’t let us down. We are loved by a God whose mercy is unending.

We don’t need to be overwhelmed by our failures, we can be overwhelmed by the generosity of His mercy. Trust Him in the waiting. Trust the journey. Trust in His mercy. Trust things will turn out in a way that you can only see as His grace in your life.

He has written our story. Cling to the truth that He will not leave this unfinished. He is working for you and He is with you. Wait patiently knowing that the waiting is never wasted.