Are we willing to wait six years?

I’ve been memorizing and meditating on 1 Kings 11:1-3.  (I also posted on it here).  Jehosheba’s six year wait has my attention.  I wonder if I would last six years?  Of, if I would snap first.

The quick summary is that a murderous woman named Athaliah made it her goal to murder all the heirs to the throne. But, for brave Jehosheba she would have been successful.  Jehosheba was heroic. She hid her little nephew and his nurse for six years. Discovery at any time would have meant horrible death.

Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family. But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were being put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not put to death. And he remained with her six years, hidden in the house of the Lord, while Athaliah reigned over the land.(2 Kings 11:1-3)."

My system of memorization and review requires me to repeat verses a large  number of times.  The detail of six years struck me while memorizing these verses.  For six years Jehosheba hid her nephew when discovery would have meant a violent death for everyone involved.  For six years, she slept with one eye open wondering if this would be the day she was discovered.

And, Jehosheba didn’t know if it would be over in six years.  For all she knew, it might be indefinite. 

I compared my patience as a husband, parent, and pastor with Jehosheba’s.  Am I patient enough to wait six years, or even 20 years for God to act?

"Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.(Is 40:28-31)."