Waiting

When Jesus was walking the earth he told the story of a man and his two sons. It is found in Luke chapter 15. The story is commonly known as the Prodigal Son. I'm not going to type out all the text, but I'd encourage you to read it if you never have. The basics of the story go as follows:

A son asks his father for his inheritance while the father is still living.
The son leaves and wastes his inheritance.
The son comes back to the father and the father welcomes him back.

This is a story that I was very familiar with, but in the past few weeks I've learned a few things about it that put a new spin on it for me.

The first thing that I learned was that the son was probably 30 years old (Jewish tradition forbid someone from receiving an inheritance from a living relative befor they were 30 years old).

After I learned about his age, I began to think about his situation. He was an adult, and if he was anything like me he was probably sure that he knew what was best in every situation. His father had probably provided everything he needed and many things that he wanted...but his father had not yet given him every good thing that the father had to give. His father was going to give him every good thing, but the father knew that the son wasn't yet ready to receive it.

Have you ever been there? God has given you every thing you need and blessed you with many things that you want. Yet, there is something good that God is telling you to wait for.

When we are waiting we can't possibly understand why God wouldn't give it to us right now. We are confused about why God would tell us to wait.

Those are some of the toughest times.

When you are in that spot you must choose to trust in God. You must trust that He knows what is best and you must trust that "in all things God works for the good of those who love him." (Romans 8:28)