How long?

We often wonder "How long?"

We get impatient in this world. Growing up in the time period that we have, we have everything we want right at the tips of our fingers. The ability to get anything that we want right away has caused millennials to not have any patience.

Sometimes I find myself getting worked up for the idea of "how long," for no reason at all.

Check this out:

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
lest my enemy say, "I have prevailed over him,"
lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me. 

(Psalm 13)

For me, that passage was perfect today. After spending a week in sunny Southern California and the last three days in the gloomy rain it gets tough. Having knee surgery in there doesn't help the most either! Just today, I caught myself wondering..."How long?" How long till it's nice out? How long till I can workout? How long until God tugs at my heart?

This scripture reminded me. There are times when we will wonder "how long?"

but...

when you wonder that, you must remember that we have decided to trust in God's steadfast love and that we are going to rejoice in God's salvation. We must sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with us!

We can wonder "how long?" As long as we remember the abundance that God has put right in front of you. My caution is this: don't wear yourself out with it. It can be a lot of unnecessary worrying.

Think of it like this: It's like when you make plans with one of your best friends and they start getting cold feet. You immediately start thinking that your friend doesn't want to be your friend anymore! Then you communicate with your friend on the phone or make other plans, and you realize that nothing changed because your plans fell through. You were just hit with a little curveball. It happens all the time. We naturally freak out about it.

Why make something such a big deal to worry about when it ultimately isn't.

How long until you remember God's unconditional and steadfast love for you all of the time.