When God "Wastes" Your Life

I found these words by Walter Henrichsen encouraging:

"God revealed to Abraham, "Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years." With an apparent disregard for human suffering and the utter waste of over ten generations living in slavery, God simply decides that this is how He will build a nation out of a clan. The Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob spent their lives doing nothing while God worked His will through them. You may find yourself tempted to conclude that God would never insist on your life being spent in ways that seem to you wasteful. When Providence arrests your efforts to fulfill your goals and objectives, remember that He is the same God that seemingly 'wasted' generations of His people in the Old Testament. Never allow your understanding of your importance to God and your need to 'redeem the time' to cause you to despair when He acts in ways that seem to belie this truth."