impatiently waiting...

I'm deciding I don't know how to be patient. Well, I do. I've been learning patience for about 25 years now, and I'm back to the whole "hurry up and wait" thing. How DID the Israelites keep their faith for 40years in the desert with no sign of redemption? How DID Moses keep the faith in His Lord even though he died before ever setting foot in the promised land? How DID Job cope with so much suffering and never sin? Waiting and hoping for things not yet seen is apparently what faith is....but how do you continue to hope and wait if what you were certain you were hoping and waiting for might not be what it is that will really satisfy you? I WANT my hopes and dreams to line up with God's heart, and some of the time I know they do, but other times, it just seems like a battle of the flesh. Proverbs says that "if we CALL OUT for understanding, and CRY OUT for wisdom," then "you will understand the fear of the LORD"...it says "He holds VICTORY in store for the upright, and is a SHIELD to those whose walk is blameless"....now, that's good stuff, right there. Wouldn't that be cool? To know that you were shielded and protected, and that there was certain VICTORY over the battles in your life? Now THAT's faith that can move mountains.