A guy hears a knocking on his door. He opens it up, and no one is there. He looks all around and he finally sees a little snail sitting on the doormat. He picks it up and throws it across the street into a field.

Ten years later, he hears a knocking on his door again. He opens it up and no one is there. He looks all around, and he finally sees a little snail sitting on the doormat.

The snail says, "What was that all about?"

I remember when I first got that joke in my email box, and I shared it with a few people, they didn't seem to enjoy it like I did. I'm not sure what that means. Maybe it's my twisted sense of humor, or maybe it's funny to me because I "get it." I mean, I really "get it." Or, maybe it's just one of those "you had to be there" things.

And I really feel like I've been there. My years of serving the Lord have rarely been what I expected. There have been good times, as well as frustrating times. Often, to be honest, in years past there was what seemed to be hopelessness and despair. We often asked, as we wandered through the wilderness and waited to see what God had in store for us, "Lord, what's taking so long?"

But God has been faithful, and the older I get the more I realize the value that comes in walking through times of waiting.

Richard Hendrix said it this way: "Second only to suffering, waiting may be the greatest teacher and trainer in godliness, maturity and genuine spirituality most of us ever encounter." I very much believe that is true. I've never forgotten another quote I heard once that I have quoted many times: "Faith proves itself in our willingness to wait on the faithfulness of God." Even when waiting is not much fun.

As much I have spent a good deal of my life afflicted by it, I believe a lack of patience reveals, ultimately, a lack of trust in God. And maybe that's what the Lord is trying to teach all of us more than anything else. To place our faith in Him, and His perfect will.

Someone said of the aforementioned snail's pace, "Life by the yard is hard, but by the inch, anything's a cinch." So we inch along, seeking to walk in obedience, learning to trust the Father as we wait on Him.

May the Lord continue to grow you up in Him, as you walk with Him this week. I'm praying for you, as I hope you are for me, and I look forward to seeing you Sunday.

   --Pastor Ken