Sacred Waiting by David Timms

This will be a must read for everyone.

We live in a 30 Second Society. I have harped on this until the cows come home... Waiting is not an American strong suit. We have credit card debt up the wazoo simply because we cannot wait for anything any more. Fast food, fast coffee, fast cars, fast this and fast that until our heads ache from the stress and fast pace. There is no one like Ferdinand the Bull anymore. You remember him, right? He liked to loll in the field, smell the flowers and then a bee stung him. He flailed about like a mad bull and they chose him to be in the bull ring where he promptly sat down and smelled the lovely flowers that filled the air around him.

We don't do that any longer. I see couples sitting at a table in a sidewalk cafe' but that is on commercials or in movies. Courtyard dining is a thing of the past. Gimme my Giant MacDougal, and gimme it my way...FAST.

David Timms reminds us that in the "olden days" back when Grampa Enoch walked the earth, he walked with God. Apparently, Grandson Noah (480 year old Noah) took all that Grampa had to say about God to heart because after another 120 years, God saved Noah and his family from the flood. Of course there is a lot to that concerning obedience and preaching about something no one has ever heard of before like Flood and Rain.

How would you like to wait 75 years to become useful to God like Abraham did? Or how about working 14 years for the woman you love? Or waiting 80 years to fulfill your mission like Moses did? It's all in this book and it is all about how this applies to our lives today.

I wish I had this sage advice back when I was a lot younger because I think my life and that of my children would have been a lot more peaceful and just perhaps, I would have been a lot more useful to God a lot earlier.

Waiting--the Key to Joy, Peace, and Abundance
No one likes to wait. Our irritation level rises in checkout lines, train stations, restaurants, and doctors' offices. We don't have time to waste. But Scripture constantly speaks of waiting: "Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their
strength" (Isaiah 40:31).
The good news is that waiting on God is much more than watching the clock. Waiting plays a vital role in our spiritual formation as we draw closer to the Lord and respond to His leading. Challenging believers to rediscover this lost spiritual discipline, pastor and Bible professor David Timms reveals the hidden treasures of waiting on God--the peace and joy of being with Him.
The heroes of the faith all waited on God. And just like Abraham, Moses, and David, you'll find that your best moments arise from God's timing, not your own. Every covenant God made came at the end of a season of waiting. God's rewards wait for you when you learn to practice Sacred Waiting.

David Timms teaches New Testament and Theology and serves as chair of the Graduate Ministry Department at Hope International University in Fullerton, California. Australian by birth, David has been a church planter, pastor, and trainer of pastors for twenty-five years. He publishes an e-zine, In Hope, that shares his reflections on Christian leadership and spiritual formation. He and his wife, Kim, have three sons and live in Fullerton, California.