Why should I wait?

Have you ever been in a situation where ALL you could do is wait?  JUST WAIT! Well, I'll tell you, that is very difficutl for me. It's human nature to want to fix things or make things happen all on your own.  But what about those times when the outcome is completely out of yourcontrol?  What happens then?.....well, you just have to wait. 
Now, it's one thing to wait a few days, maybe a couple of weeks.  However, the true quality of our paitence is tested and revealed when that waiting turns into months and years. 
The last eight months has been a waiting game for me. The desired outcome of my circumstances is about as much out of my control as the weather.  My hopes are up....and then they are dashed.....they are up....and then dashed again.  "What is God trying to do to me?!!!", I've often thought.  "He can't possibly know what this is like to have to wait and trust and wait some more." For a few days I would be optimistic and then I would begin to doubt if God even wanted this certain situation to work out.  Maybe he was totally against it in the first place.  But no, He would have closed a door long before this time. My husband would reassure me and try to encourage me to trust the Lord. "All things work together for good." he would say.  "Hmmm, okay, well that makes it easy, right?  WRONG!
My mind would be filled with worrisome thoughts.  Thoughts I knew I had to reject but thoughts that sometimes consumed me.  There were days when I couldn't concentrate on anything I did because worry and doubt would creep right in and distract me.  I was allowing this situation (and the Devil) to rob me of my joy.
One day, the Lord put in my mind a Scripture verse that really changed my whole attitude toward this difficulty and how it was affecting me.  "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord." Psalm 27:14  POW, it hit me!  Why should I wait?  Because God promises that while I'm waiting, He is strengthening my heart.  Honestly, I had read this verse many times and always knew that I should wait on the Lord, but never before had I realized that He was strengthening me the whole time I was waiting on Him. 
So the product of waiting on the Lord to answer your prayer is not just an answered prayer at the end of that long, dark tunnel.  It is Him doing a work in you.  Your heart is being strengthened!  Maybe in order for you to be able to endure trials to come.  Maybe so that you will know what it is to fully rely on God for everything in your life.  There is another verse with much the same message: "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." Isaiah 40:31.  How would you like to run in life and not get weary? And how about walking through life and never fainting? Well, learn to wait.  JUST WAIT!  When you look at it in that light, you realize that you aren't just "waiting it out" until God sees fit to answer your prayer, but you are actually growing stronger throughout the process.  It makes the outcome seem so much more certain when you know the Lord has a plan for you. 
That's why I should wait!