{"id":50970,"date":"1999-12-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1999-12-07T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/why-wait\/"},"modified":"1999-12-07T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"1999-12-07T00:00:00","slug":"why-wait","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/why-wait\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Wait"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Nouwen Then<\/em>, author Luci Shaw writes:<\/p>\n\n

\n

I'm an impatient, restless person. Slowing down and waiting seem like a waste of time. Yet waiting seems to be an inevitable part of the human condition.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

Henri Nouwen said, "Waiting is a period of learning. The longer we wait, the more we hear about him for whom we are waiting."<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

Eugene Peterson's paraphrase of Romans 8:22-25 resonates with Nouwen: "Waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting" (The Message<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

During a time of waiting, God is vibrantly at work within us.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[409],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[4167,4611,4629,4894,5258],"tax_ctp_topics":[378],"class_list":["post-50970","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-hope","tax_ctp_tags-patience","tax_ctp_tags-perseverance","tax_ctp_tags-seasons","tax_ctp_tags-waiting-on-god"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"\nWhy Wait - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/why-wait\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Wait - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In Nouwen Then, author Luci Shaw writes: I'm an impatient, restless person. 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