You must realize that Abraham was 75 when he came to Cannan. When he asked the Lord that "Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus; Behold, to me thou has given no seed: and lo, one born in my house is mine heir." (Gen.15:2-3). Then the word of the Lord came to him saying: "This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine bowel shall be thine heir." (Gen.15:4). He waited some more years until he was 86 before Sarah suggested that Abraham should go unto Hagar, her maid-servant, and Ishmael was born. From 75 years old to 86 years old, Abraham had the promise that his seed would inherit the land. He believed, though he had no seed as yet. This is the faith that waits, not minding that at 75 years (and Sarah 70), it was already late for them to have children. As years rolled past, Abraham staggered not at the promise of God. We might say when Ishmael was born, Abraham's heart might have been comforted. However, God's original plan was for Abraham and his wife Sarah.
We can also see a faith that waits in the life of king David. David was anointed to be king of Israel when he was just a young lad and while another king (Saul) was on the throne. But Saul expected his lineage to hold the throne. David was brought into the presence of king Saul through the circumstances surrounding Saul: "an evil spirit was troubling the king and David was hired to play the harp to relieve the king." After David killed Goliath, he became an hero which soon turned him into an enemy of the king out of jealousy. Finally, David fled from king Saul and was hunted every day by the king with the state paratroopers. On several occasions, David had the opportunity to kill king Saul if he chose to do it. (1 Sam.24:6-11). Even some of his men urged him to kill Saul, knowing that his trouble would be over and the throne would be within his reach. But David refused to kill Saul. "And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not; for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord's anointed and be guiltless? As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle and perish." (1 Sam.24:9-10). The faith that waits prefers that the promise fulfill itself by the normal course of events: "FOR HE THAT PROMISED IS ABLE ALSO TO FULFILL IT". Even after the death of Saul and David was anointed to be the king over the tribe of Judah, the promise was still not fully received, because a son of Saul (Ishbosheth) was made king over Israel in defiance to the choice of God in David. David had to wait seven more years for the whole Israel to turn back to him. (2 Sam.5:5).Faith that waits must trust. If you are at the edge of bankruptcy, or about to lose your home, and have no alternative, being out of job, so that only God can rescue you and he did; That kind of trust is feeble! Anybody who has nowhere else to turn in their dilemma will usually look up to God. However, the kind of trust for rapturing faith is this: suppose you have an option to either walk one mile down the river to a bridge which you can use to cross the river and then walk back up the river one mile; instead, the faith from the Lord spoke to you to trust the Lord to carry you, and he told you to step on the top of the water to walk upon it. The rapturing kind of faith will step on the water against the coward option.
I have this testimony concerning faith that waits. I became a Christian in college. Close to the time of my college graduation, the desire came to me to choose a spouse from among the sisters, but I preferred the Lord to choose for me. So, I prayed and believed God. Occasionally I would see visions of the lady whom the Lord planned for me, but I would not know her name. I waited, and waited, till most of the ladies in the college fellowship were married. There were other opinions in the congregation which said a man should simply choose a bride from the church ladies and let the Lord bless it. Others did, but I waited for the Lord to choose. Faith that waits must believe that he who has promised is able to fulfill, and have patience. Later, I saw a vision of talking to the future spouse on telephone from overseas. I thought the lady was perhaps away from the country. The wait was long, but God's time is the best. I met my wife during this time, but she was only a girl, and the Lord hid it from me. The Lord had to hide it from me in those days because, I was ready for marriage and looking, but the woman God planned for my life was, at this time, still a high school girl and growing. No wonder I did not know the lady in the visions. About five years after college, I moved to America, and the vision appeared to me again, but this time that the lady was back in the country where I came from. There were thoughts to give up searching and to select any available Christian lady around, just like others did. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, kept the encouragement up, saying, "God's time and God's choice is the best". As long as the visions kept coming of a lady prepared for me, I knew the Lord was working it out. By the time the Lord finally told me who he had planned to be my spouse, that it was the high school girl whom I knew some years back, and to whom I had opportunity to give exhortation, I looked back at those earlier visions and found them to be authentic. By the way, the Lord told the lady also before I contacted her, now by telephone, just as the previous vision foretold. Those visions were received when I had not met the girl. When I met her, which was after her high school graduation, I wouldn't dare think of suggesting to her to get married. No wonder the Lord hid her name from me in the visions. In fact I was counseling her, at the time, to go to college. But five years later, she was out of college, ready to marry, and I was still waiting. Faith that waits must simply trust that God has not forgotten you. Though it looked as though God is not talking to you anymore about your request, yet he has not forgotten you. He is working it out. There may be timing factor involved as I found out. Just remember: God's time is the best! As I said earlier, there will always be a lukewarm alternative to the faith that waits. In my own case, the alternative was to select any of the available sisters rather than follow visions, dreams, in waiting for the Father to choose. The Father's choice of a bride for his son is old fashion, but "God requireth that which is past" saith the scriptures. (Eccl. 3:15). I am writing this testimony in 1996, which is 10 years after our marriage, and God has blessed us with four children. It's worth the wait! Though the days of waiting for your prayers to be answered seem not pleasurable, but remember the scripture which says "Rest in the lord, and wait patiently for him" (Psa.37:7a). "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noon day." (Psa.37:5-6).