I got married at 37 years old. I thought I had done the work to prepare to be a wife. But I quickly learned, you can only learn so much about yourself while single, there are some things you will never know about yourself until you are married. Living in that close of proximity to another person, who you love and who loves you, yields knowledge of things about yourself you could know no other way. Can I get an amen from all the married people?

One thing I learned very quickly, for my husband told me, I was not patient. My knee jerk response to him was, what are you talking about, I am not patient? I laugh at myself now, when I think back on that day he said it, for I can still hear his voice saying it and I can hear my quick, impatient response. But now, 19 years later, I can honestly say, I have learned patience.

In Genesis 37, Joseph was a young man who had a dream of being in authority and the dream said it would be in authority over his family. In his youthful zeal, he told his brothers, mother and father the dream. The family did not understand the dream and quite frankly did not like it either. Joseph was the youngest son, so ruling over his elders was not culturally cooth.

Psalm 105 says, “Joseph, who was a man sold as a slave…until the time that his word (dream) came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him.”

People love prophetic words, but how many people have the patience to wait for them to come to pass. Abraham waited 25 years for his promise of an heir to come to pass; Paul spent 14 years in another country waiting to be an apostle to the nations; Jesus waited 30 years to do His first miracle; how long have you waited? I have waited for many years for many prophecies that are now coming to pass.

The waiting is hard. Waiting tests us, trains us, develops character in us. We learn patience in the waiting, we learn cadence in the waiting, we learn how to love, forgive, release mercy and grace in the waiting. The waiting is not wasted it is needed. Promises are coming to pass in this season, for those who have been developed in the waiting. The waiting is not wasted, it is necessary for the promise to be fulfilled. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org