I must be on the alert against the sin of impatience. The great fault of the prodigal son was not the request “Give me,” but the impatience with which he sought what ultimately would become his, “Give me now.” He could not wait for the father’s time, the father’s plan; it had to be his time and that time was right now!
How often I repeat the same mistake with my heavenly Father! I must learn that all impatience is a denial of God’s time. It says to Him, “I do not trust Your time; my time is better.” Moses sinned with impatience when he struck the rock instead of speaking to it (Numbers 20:10–13). His impatience caused him to disobey a direct order of the Lord, thus publicly insulting God before the assembly of Israel (v. 12). For that impatient outburst Moses lost his lifelong desire—to lead Israel into the Promised Land. How often I will lose my goals and ambitions because my impatience makes a fool out of God in the eyes of the people!
Impatience is seizing God’s means and substituting my own. God has promised His strength for every task, which means I cannot receive that help until God’s time to act arrives. If I impatiently precipitate the action on my own, it means I must use my own resources instead of God’s. By my impatience I am left nakedly to myself before my enemies.
Impatience is telling God what is important, and that is a sorry mistake. God will act when the purpose is mature and the time is ripe, not before. I cannot afford to seize green opportunities, lest I dishonor God and frustrate my own hopes. I can only afford to wait and let Him be “gracious” to me (Isaiah 30:18). May my testimony always be,
“I waited patiently for the Lord; and He … heard my cry” (Psalm 40:1). “And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:4).
Daily with the King 