Worship with Patience

What comes to your mind when you think about the act of worship?  Traditionally, the Sunday church service is referred to as the worship service.  The time of worship is generally the music portion of the service, whether it be a traditional service with a choir and hymns, or a contemporary service with a worship band and fresh, new songs that we sing about God and His glory.  Churches will often refer to the offering collection time as the time to worship God with our giving.  The communion service is also an act of worship, as we pause to remember the sacrifice that God made in sending His only Son to earth to die on the cross and redeem us from the penalty of sin.  All of these are acts of worship if our attention is focused on God.

There is another act of worship that we often don't think about.  Patience.  Waiting patiently for God to do His work, His way, in His time.  It's an act of worship that can be particularly difficult for most of us in our culture.  We are taught, from a young age, to do something, to make something happen.  We can ask God for His divine help and guidance, but get busy and make it happen.  But God's ways and his time are not our ways or our time.  When we are willing to ask God to work, whether it be in our business, in our ministry, our family, or our health, and then patiently wait for Him, we demonstrate our trust in Him.  Waiting in peaceful confidence that God is in control, and trusting Him with the outcome of any situation, is an act of worship.  It is an acknowledgement that God is on the throne, He is sovereign, and His ways are infinitely better than our ways.

If you've been petitioning God to move in some area of your life, and you've grown impatient and frustrated that nothing is happening, be still and wait for God.  Rest in the knowledge that He hears your prayers and He will work His perfect work in you, in His time.  Wait for Him.  It's an act of worship.