We want it all right now, but right now is rarely God’s timing. God doesn’t require more time, yet he usually takes time. Why is that? Why does the God who CAN create anything and everything in an INSTANT with one word, take so much time to do the things we’re waiting on? Why does he have you still waiting on what he could have easily already done?

Answer: He is gracious.

In our human minds, making us wait doesn’t seem gracious, but in God’s eternal view of the beginning and end of our lives, he sees waiting from a different perspective.

Isaiah 30: 18 MSG “But God’s not finished – he’s waiting around to be gracious to you. God takes time to do everything right. Those who wait for him are the lucky ones.”

God is taking time to do everything just right for you. So, here’s an idea … how about we stop being a brat about the wait! How about we trust God when he offers us grace in the wait and promise for the future.

I’m currently waiting. Waiting for a breakthrough I’ve been praying over for years. I have no evidence of God’s grace at work in the wait because on the surface it looks like wasted years and worsening conditions. But 2 Corinthians 5:7 reminds me that I live by faith, not by sight. By believing, not by seeing. Here in the wait, I’m learning how to live. These are things I don’t learn in instantaneous results. When I don’t have to wait, I see what I want instantly, and faith is not required. Only God could orchestrate a wait that is for my benefit like this. Indeed, he is gracious.

And I bet God is being gracious to you as well. He’s making you wait. And here in the wait, he is showing you how to truly live. Live by faith because you certainly can’t see it. Live by believing because you have no evidence of the promises still to be fulfilled in your future. And this faith that is growing in you is making you righteous!

All of this is part of the process of becoming who God created you to be. He created you to be a girl of deep faith. He created you to be a girl who believes in the unseen. All this waiting has you growing into that girl! God started something so good in you and he will not stop until his work is complete. And he’s completely content taking his time in the work of you to do it just right. God’s not rushing, so you can stop rushing.

I would choose to rush through the wait and get to the part where my prayers are answered and we live in our happy ending … but I would be wishing away valuable years of life where God is doing his greatest work. Here, in the wait, he is working.

Here, in the in between … you know, in between where you once were and where you want to be, this is where God takes time to do everything right. We’re trying to rush it, but God’s timing is perfect. God will not cut corners on your life. He won’t skip steps that will teach you how to live in the fullness of life Jesus came to offer you. And what he really wants is for you to understand the wait is not being wasted and the future is not being delayed. This time is for a purpose and for your benefit.

Your 41 will come. Yes, your 41. Do you know about your 41? Oh you have to know! It’s on it’s way to you. On the other side of this wait when you have learned to walk by faith and not by sight, you step into your 41.

Until then, you’re somewhere in your 40. 40 is the wait. 40 is space between where you once were and where you want to be.

Have you ever noticed the reoccurring number 40 in scripture? 40 is a time of wait.

When the Earth flooded, it rained for 40 days and 40 nights, then on day 41 the rain stopped.

Moses kills an Egyptian soldier, buries the body in the sand, then hides in the desert for 40 years. When year 41 came, God called him out of hiding and into a life or tremendous purpose.

Moses went up on a mountain for 40 days. On day 41, he came down with the 10 Commandants, inscribed by the finger of God.

The Israelites complained and were ungrateful on their journey, so they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. On year 41, they stepped into their Promised Land.

The giant Goliath taunted Israel for 40 days, but on day 41, a little shepherd boy named David put a smooth rock in his slingshot and brought that giant down.

Jesus fasted for 40 days and was tempted by Satan. On day 41, Satan fled.

After the cross, Jesus appeared to his disciples for 40 days. On day 41, he ascended to Heaven.

40 can seem long, cruel and impossible, but 41 is coming. For every single one of us, our 41 is coming. The rain will not last forever. The giant will be defeated. The enemy will flea. We will step into our promises. We will live a life of tremendous purpose. We just can’t give up in our 40.

Before 41 comes 3 and 7, 15 and 20, 27 and 31, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40. There’s 40 before your 41, and you’re somewhere in your 40. But here in your 40, God is working and teaching you how to live by faith, all leading to your 41.

These are not wasted days. These years are not without purpose. God is taking his time to do everything right concerning you. Not half-way. Not kinda sorta. Not almost. No, all the way … all the way to your 41. All the way through your 40.

40 represents the challenges we encounter that help us grow spiritually into the woman we are created to be, learning to trust God fully. God is always at work within our lives, and 40 symbolizes those special times God has us waiting for a purpose greater than we can see. The purpose of teaching us to really live, for we live not by sight but by faith – not by seeing, but by believing.

I don’t know what you’re waiting on in your 40, and I don’t know where you are in your 40, but I know your 41 is coming. And I know when you get to your 41, you’re going to be so much more like the girl God always knew you could be!

And my sister, it will be so worth it! God is so graciously taking his time to do everything right with you because he says YOU ARE WORTH IT!

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