“Be patient. Wait on the Lord for whatever He appoints, wait quietly, wait trustingly.” (Elizabeth Elliott)

Impatience comes natural to me. I don’t have to try to be impatient; it is my go-to attitude. Whether I am waiting in the drive-thru or waiting for God to answer my prayer, I am always tapping my foot with impatience.

Of course, we are clearly told in Galatians 5 that one mark of the fruit of the Spirit is patience. So when I am being impatient, I am not displaying the fruit of the Spirit; I am not being godly.

When we are impatient, it is a signal that we aren’t truly trusting in God’s plan and timing. Patience and trust are connected. It reveals we’re yielding to our flesh, not the Spirit. We are succumbing to the temptation to direct our own lives, do things when we want, and only ask God for things when we’re desperate. But that’s not how God has called us to live. He has called us to live according to his good and perfect will.

At the very core, our impatience shows that we want control over our lives. And when our lives spiral out of control, we get snippy. But we weren’t created to control our lives. Truth be told, no matter how much it feels like we are in control, we are not. We don’t control anything. God does. He could take it all in a second—our health, our finances, our family, etc., because it all belongs to him. Ask yourself: would you trust him if he did?

Let God be God; and let’s trust Him and His timing.

This devotional was taken from a small excerpt of my new book Taking No for an Answer: How to Respond When God Says No to Our Prayers.