Written by Tracy Figley | CEO Strong Tower Christian Ministries
I can smell it before I even get in the front door. The aroma makes my mouth water and I grow impatient for dinner. When I finally take that first bite, it practically melts in my mouth. It is so tender and delicious and so worth the wait. As I savor every bite, I wonder why I ever prepare it any other way. What is it, you ask? Anything slow cooked in a crock pot!
I’m usually in a big hurry and the microwave will have to do, but the smell, taste and texture in the microwave leave a lot to be desired. Often times, our life is like this. I’m in too big of a hurry to realize what I’m missing because I’m always looking for a short cut. We may be in an age of break neck speed and we may be microwave people, but I’m pretty sure we have a crock pot God.
In Ecclesiastes 3:11 Solomon tells us: “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” Then in Psalm 27:14 we read: “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” I hate waiting! But when I run ahead of God, when I use the microwave instead of the crock pot, I’m always disappointed with the results!
And I’m not alone. When we go back to the first book of the Bible, we learn that God promised Abram he would have descendants more in number than the sands of the sea and the stars in the sky. But Sarai, his wife was not able to have children yet. We read in Genesis 16, she decided they could not wait any longer. She ran ahead of God, giving Abram her Egyptian maidservant Hagar to conceive an heir. As you can imagine, that didn’t turn out well. And still to this day, the child of promise is at war with her microwave solution, Ishmael!
I love what Dr. Charles Stanley once said about waiting; “There is one thing worse than waiting on the Lord and that is…wishing that you had!”
Ever been there? Abram and Sarai were, and I have been many times. It’s really hard not to get ahead of God, but I’m trying to learn that when you wait on the Lord and His best for you, it always tastes much better!
