Do All You Can, Then Wait

August 23

"You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever." Psalm 16:11

Luciano Pavarotti, the great tenor, has some life advice to share that requires a few of the Holy Spirit's fruit, most notably, patience and self-control.

Of his own life’s experience, Pavarotti relates, "When I was a boy, my father, a baker, introduced me to the wonders of song. He urged me to work very hard to develop my voice. Arrigo Pola, a professional tenor in my hometown of Modena, Italy, took me as a pupil. I also enrolled in a teachers college. On graduating, I asked my father, 'Shall I be a teacher or a singer?'

"'Luciano,' my father replied, 'if you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair.'

"I chose one. It took seven years of study and frustration before I made my first professional appearance. It took another seven to reach the Metropolitan Opera.

"And now I think whether it's laying bricks, writing a book -- whatever we choose -- we should give ourselves to it. Commitment, that's the key. Choose one chair."



Pavarotti’s words regarding patience bring to mind an amazing quote from Habakkuk 2:3: “For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not delay.”

Sometimes believers have a word from God—yes, all believers have the WORD, the Holy Bible and Christ who is the Living Word, John 1:1-3, but there are additional words which God speaks to individuals when the situation warrants His doing so. Often those personal words require time in fulfilling.

A vivid Biblical example of that is Joseph to whom God spoke about rulership while he was one of the youngest (and therefore among the least important) members of his father’s household. Joseph revealed a dream to his father and older brothers about his ruling over them. This incited the wrath of his brothers and they sold him into slavery.

Joseph spent 13 years in a prison in Egypt before being set free to assume the role of adviser to Pharaoh due to his accurate interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams (See Genesis 37 and Genesis 41, 42, 43.)

The word you have from God, too, dear reader, has an appointed time for its fulfillment. You may long to reap the outcome of His promises today but His plan may require a time of your maturing in faith before its actualization.

Nothing deepens a believer’s confidence in the True and Living God as much as does the patience he must employ when he is awaiting a promise he knows he’s been given but that he hasn’t received.

Be like Joseph; be like Pavarotti. Do all you can do to further the goal you seek, and then wait patiently for the outcome which will ultimately reveal the reward of your diligence—and the glory of God in and through you.