Listening is a close relative to patience. We have to be patient to let someone else take precedence in a conversation. We have to be patient to be silent instead of expressing our own thoughts. We have to be patient when waiting on God to do what we want Him to do.
Hold on – waiting for God to do what we want? Perhaps the problem is right there. We say we trust God, but then we keep wanting to tell Him what to do, and get upset when His answer is different than we expected.
Does the string section tell the conductor what tempo to take? Do musicians tell the composer what key to write in? Well, maybe sometimes, but what if the brass section wants one key and the strings want another? We can’t make beautiful music that way, with everyone demanding their own preferences. If we want to learn a piece of music, we need to learn it the way it is written. And to learn a new piece of music, a musician must have patience. If we give up because we can’t play it perfectly the first time, we’ll never get to experience the beauty of that piece of music.
God has already crafted a beautiful piece of music for our lives, and we need patience to ‘learn’ it and experience it as He designed. The verse below is my favorite verse, and one I often return to when thinking of future plans.
I sometimes wish I could ask God to prove He exists by doing some random miracle. The people at Jesus's crucifixion also asked, "If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross, and we will believe you!" But He didn't come down, we now know, because His death was what He was sent to do, and His death was what would save us. Thank God He didn’t come down from that cross! So perhaps when God does not "prove Himself" in response to our demands, His silence is for another purpose. Some purpose that is for our benefit, but we are too blind to see it. Some purpose, like giving us the opportunity to believe by faith, and not by sight only, as faith is what He desires for us.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11