The NIV 365 Day Devotional

Patient Obedience

Phillips Brooks, a pastor in New England during the late 1800s, was known as a calm and relaxed man. But one particular evening a friend found him pacing the floor like a caged lion. When the friend asked him what was wrong, Brooks replied, “The trouble is I’m in a hurry, but God isn’t!”

Can you relate? Sometimes the hardest part of following God is waiting on him to move. At these times questions come fast and furious. “Why won’t our house sell?” “When will I hear something from the person who interviewed me?” “How long do I have to wait for my child’s (or friend’s or parent’s or boss’s) attitude to change?”

The Israelites discovered this truth firsthand. God led them through the wilderness, but not always at the pace they had hoped for. Yet God expected the people to obey regardless of the wait.

It’s not hard to imagine how difficult it must have been for the Israelites to be patient and obedient, because you experience this in your own life. Maybe you’re waiting for an answer to prayer. You know that God’s answer is critical, yet he doesn’t seem to be responding. You’re in a hurry, but God isn’t.

And while the hardest part may be the waiting, learning to trust God in the middle of it all is no picnic either. Yet Proverbs 3:5–6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Obeying and trusting God often require a measure of patience. “Obedience must be the struggle and desire of our life,” writes Phillips Brooks. “Obedience, not hard and forced, but ready, loving and spontaneous.” So Brooks waited, in spite of his moments of impatience.

Are you willing to wait for God, trust his timing and answers and obey—regardless of the wait?

Taken from the NIV Men’s Devotional Bible.