What’s the longest you’ve had to wait for something? The year was 1980. My fifth-grade teacher had taken our whole class to see the movie Empire Strikes Back. The rolling credits, the big reveal of who Luke’s father really was, Han Solo getting frozen, and then the ending credits. The movie ended with a cliff-hanger. I turned to my teacher and said, “So, when does the next movie come out?” He said, “Three years.” My reaction: “Three years? Holy cow, that’s a long time to wait! That’s like forever!”

What’s the longest you’ve had to wait for something at the DMV, at the checkout line, or even for a text response? If you’re at a drive-through or a stop sign and don’t move fast enough, you’re often prodded with a honk or something worse. 

We’ve become an instant gratification nation. We’re accustomed to getting what we want—right now! 

Do you sometimes apply that “right now” principle to God in prayer? “God, it’s my prayer; give it to me right now!”

Patience, friends, the Lord’s on a different timetable. And his timetable is perfect and for our good.

“Do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” (2 Peter 3:8).