Have you ever wanted something so badly that after a while it begins to physically hurt? For instance, if you want a new car badly enough, eventually that'll be the only car you pass on the interstate; if you want that cute girl/guy to take interest in you, you pretty much do everything you can think of to get him/her to notice you (except shout "Like me!!!!!" in his/her face); or maybe you've been wanting and working double overtime to get a big raise at work while everyone else gets theirs handed to them on their first day.
If you've ever waited for something, or someone, long enough, you know exactly what I'm talking about. It's not a pain so bad and so deep that it will send you to the hospital, but it is enough to constantly remind you that it's there.
If you're like me, you're super stubborn and you refuse to give up on things. Lord help the both of us! I can remember in high school waiting for two years for something that I thought was what God wanted me to have. It made perfect sense to me. I prayed, I cried, I waited. Eventually, I forgot why I even wanted it. I think I had waited for so long for it that the only reason I continued waiting was simply because I had allowed it to waste so much of my time. I eventually got what I wanted, but after a while, it was more like a regret and a burden than it was a blessing. I learned a few lessons from it that I think are important.
1. Just because you wait, it doesn't mean you will always receive.
This one is a tough lesson to learn because we have always heard the famous line "good comes to those who wait," and we use that as our justification system to wait for what WE want. While it is true that those who wait for things will eventually receive them, it's important to note that 1.) it's not going to be on your time and 2.) it's sometimes not going to be what you're waiting for. I can remember after I got what I waited for, I found myself asking God, "Is this it? This is what I waited for? Are you sure?" I was so disappointed because while I was waiting, I created in mind my an illusion and made it into something it wasn't. I worked it up in my mind as this great thing, but it wasn't at all. I can also remember waiting for things that never came. Let me tell you, that is the most frustrating thing. But God always shows up and reveals why you didn't receive. I thought I was doing something wrong; maybe I was inconsistent with my praying, maybe I prayed selfishly. But more often than not, it's not because of anything you do, it's God saving you from what you can't see. So next time you're waiting for something/someone, don't be frustrated if you don't receive because not receiving it just might be the blessing.
2. What you feel is right is not what God knows is right.
As an open and honest person, I will admit to you that I have a tendency to think I know what's best for me. Shocker, right?! I tend to think that I know what is in my best interest. But I am also very naive. I always see the best in people. You can give me a million reasons to think you're the worst person in the world, and I'm still going to at least try to find one reason to think you're the best. I've had to learn to always see the best in people/things but to also be aware when God clearly shows me the truth about them/it. I always thought that what I was praying and waiting for was the best thing for me, I just knew it... until the day God showed me that it wasn't. The thing I thought was best for me caused me to be insecure, lose friends, and turn into someone I wasn't. Do you honestly think that was God's desire for me to be like that? No, it wasn't, but I was so stubborn and selfish in my praying that I believe God just had to teach me a lesson to get me to realize that what I feel is right for me is not what God knows is right for me. I based it upon this idea I had in my head while my Heavenly Father could clearly see what it would do to me. So when you're praying, remember that what you feel is not what is always right.
3. Your blessing may also come with a pretty big lesson, so be prepared for that.
Sometimes you get what you wait for! You get that new car, you get that cute girl/guy to like you or you get that raise. At first, life is so great. You're thanking God every day for it, making sure He knows you appreciate what He did for you. But then, the engine of the car goes out, the girl/guy turns out to be utterly psycho and that new raise caused you to go up in the tax bracket. At this point you're probably thinking, "Lord, what did I do to deserve this?!" and God just simply says, "I gave you what you asked for." If that isn't the most humbling thing, I don't know what is. That's the moment you realize it. That's the moment you realize that you were wrong, and God was right just like always. What you felt was right turned out to be what God knew was wrong for you. You trusted your feelings and prayed based on a human emotion for something that God, in all His knowledge and power, knew was completely wrong for you. But God didn't give you this "blessing" to torture you or to prove His greatness. He needs no justification for that. He gave you what you prayed and waited for to teach you that just because it's a nice car on the outside doesn't mean it's a dependable car, just because the girl/guy is cute and popular doesn't mean they are mature and responsible, just because you get the raise doesn't mean that you'll be able to spend it on whatever you'd like. More often than not, our blessings come with even bigger lessons.
God will sometimes give us our blessing as a way to leave us with a greater lesson.
