One of America’s finest Presidents, Abraham Lincoln, once remarked: “The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” It’s only natural for us to want the future to hurry up and get here, especially what we are waiting on something special to happen. But as Brian Lee, Chief of Product Management at Lifehack says, every day that goes by you either move closer towards achieving a goal or you move further away from that goal. If you take specific steps you can be assured that you are moving towards your goal. If you do nothing you are moving away from the goal. By being hesitant, you lose momentum and the level of inertia of moving you on from your current position decreases.

So, what we need is something to motivate us, and help us understand that waiting for the future to come to us will not be in vain. I like what the prophet Habakkuk said: “The vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie still. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.”[1] And the Psalmist David revealed, “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and I hope in His Word; yes, my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning.”[2]

Jesus also pointed out we should be like a servant who is waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. And the Apostle James instructed his readers to be patient until the coming of the Lord. He tells us to look at how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it until it receives the early and the late rains.[3]

That means, waiting for the future to arrive is not wasted time. In fact, the prophet Isaiah put it best: They who wait for the Lord will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not be weary; they will walk and not faint.[4] And the one factor that makes such waiting enjoyable is that whatever the LORD promised, He will without a doubt fulfill. But as President Lincoln mentioned, we will eventually arrive at our future appointments, but only one day at a time. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

[1] Habakkuk 2:3

[2] Psalm 130:5-6

[3] James 5:7

[4] Isaiah 40:31