Back in the days when I owned a furniture repair business, I was well known and had a long waiting list for my services.  Well, one day a man called wanting me to make him an oak dining room table and wanted to know how soon I could have it done.  I told him, I’ll plant an acorn today.  There was this long silence on the other end.  Apparently he wanted it immediately, if not sooner, like most of us.  There is a lesson to be learned in this.
    Psalm 37:7 says Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.  The part I want to focus on here is Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him.  But while you’re waiting patiently, don’t wait passively.  There is a difference, you know.  We live in a “microwave” society today, where everyone wants everything instantly.  People no longer save up for the things they want to buy, instead they have to have it right now, so they run out and buy it on credit.  We have instant coffee, instant oatmeal, instant mashed potatoes, and much of the world is looking for instant romance, and instant gratification. 
 When we ask God for something, we are of course expecting it to be done “yesterday”, because that’s just the way we are.  But some things aren’t instant.  Oak tables aren’t instant.  They start out as an acorn falling to the ground.  Over time, that acorn puts out a little feeler root and it goes into the ground, and as the acorn uses up the nourishment inside it to grow, it dies giving life to a small sprout that will one day become a tree.  The sapling matures through the years growing tall and strong, and one day the tree is harvested, and cut into boards.  The boards are stacked and dried in a kiln over a period of time.  Once they are dried, they go to a lumber yard where someone like me goes through them and picks out the ones they need for a project.  Then the craftsman starts building.  For me, the process is simple, if I want to build a table, I cut away everthing that doesn’t look like a table.
    And that process looks a bit like how God works with us.  We want God to make an instant change in us, but it just doesn’t work like that.  First, He has to plant an acorn.  That acorn is His son, the Lord Jesus.  As we know, the Lord Jesus died on the cross to make payment for our sins.  He had to die so we could live.  He was planted in a tomb, and on the third day He rose again.  His death and resurrection gave sprout to a lot of little saplings like you and me.  We don’t grow straight and strong overnight, though, it’s a process, and like trees are shaped by the weather and conditions they endure as they grow, we are shaped by the trials we live through, and some of us end up pretty gnarly.  The Lord uses the devil as a kiln, he builds a fire under us and dries us out, making us quite uncomfortable in the process.  We gripe and complain, wondering why God is allowing us to go through this stuff, don’t we?  Believe it or not, it’s part of the maturing process.  Before we’re ready for any good use we have to have the better part of “us” cooked out so only the wood remains.  Then, in the hands of the Master Builder, everything that doesn’t look like the final project is slowly and carefully cut away.  OUCH!!! Stop that!  Don’t you know that hurts? 
   Yes, the heavenly Father knows it hurts.  He watched the suffering of His dear Son, how they beat Him, and put the crown of thorns upon His head and mashed it into His brow.  He saw them drive the nails into His hands and feet, and how He hung between heaven and earth suffering worse than any human being had ever suffered before.  He bore every disease ever to come upon mankind, bore every curse, bore every sin every person had or ever would commit.  So He knows all about pain and suffering.
    Day by day the Master Builder is preparing you to be something wonderful to behold.  He is shaping you into His own image, here a little, there a little. Snip, chop, maybe even pound a little.  … It’s always uncomfortable, because we just don’t want to give up any of “us” to become more like Him.  Sometimes we think we’d rather stay gnarly, than to allow Him to make us into the masterpiece He sees in us.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.  (Ephesians 2:10).  Did you know the word “workmanship” in the Greek means “Masterpiece”?  God isn’t out to make sawdust out of you, He is the Master Builder, and all He makes is masterpieces.  So, whether you’re still an acorn, or in the kiln, or getting reshaped, know that you are in the hands of the Master.
    Remember what I said about waiting patiently, but not passively?  Don’t just wait to be waiting.  There is a purpose in waiting, and that is to develop patience in us.  Use that time to thank God, earnestly expecting His promises to be fulfilled in your life.  Whether you’re waiting for healing, or restoration of your family, or whatever you’re asking God for, know He is on the job, doing whatever is necessary at the time for the job to turn out perfect.  You put in the request by prayer, and He will plant an acorn.