The Weight In The Wait

Are you over-wait?

Are you looking for a “diet” or a “prescription” to lose wait time?

We are living in a nation that is filled with multiple time-saving devices, and yet, no one has time to wait.  Our lives are dependent on giga-speed downloads and waiting is the last thing we want to do.

Let’s be honest.  As you drive through a fast food lane, do you get frustrated if your order’s not ready when you get to the window?

When you take your car to get the oil changed and they tell you it’s going to be a couple of hours, do you opt to come back later?

When you have a doctor’s appointment and you get to the office, do you understand why they call it a “waiting room?”

When waiting to check out at a store, I have a unique ability of finding the shortest lines, but waiting the longest time.  I’m not quite sure how I obtained this ability, or even when, but it is not one that is desirable.  Invariably, the person in front of me has an item that is not priced and is no longer in the system, or has forgotten their money, or their card won’t work, or any number of other things that serve to tie up the line.  Yes, this was the shortest line.  And yes, I stand quietly and watch those who were in the longer lines pass by me and exit.

Waiting is never pleasant for us.  One of Vicki’s favorite quotes that I heard her use so many times, “We live in a microwave world, but serve a marinating God.”

How true!  We want everything, and we want it now!

We love hearing or seeing those words, “No waiting,” and yet oftentimes in life we find ourselves in situations that require us to do just that — wait.

Patience has never been my strongest virtue, but in the past couple of years, I have been required to wait, to slow down, to be patient.  During this season, I have spent many hours and had many conversations with God, and I have concluded that God’s time and my time are very different.  God has His own schedule and works in His own time.  We are ruled by a clock and a calendar; God is ruled by eternity.

Fortunately during this season, I have found strength and hope in several promises from God’s Word.

Wait patiently for the Lord.  Be brave and courageous.  Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.  Psalm 27:14

We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.  Psalm 33:20

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.  Psalm 37:7

But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.  Romans 8:25

And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.  Romans 15:4

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore He will rise up to show you compassion.  For the Lord is a God of justice.  Blessed are all who wait for Him!  Isaiah 30:18

And of course the one that is very familiar for most Christians — 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

Do you see the common thread running through those verses?  Wait patiently.  All of these have proven to be invaluable during the waiting season.

Waiting is never easy, however, I have come to understand that oftentimes in our waiting is when God does His greatest work.

Bradford pear trees have, for several years, been a popular choice in residential landscape designs.  The Bradford pear tree grows amazingly fast yet symmetrical with showy white flowers in the spring and, like fast food for the landscape, satisfies the desire for quick, pleasing and lush landscapes.  These tend to grow extremely fast, but they possess the weakest branch structure in nature, and sadly, during storms, these trees are often the first to split and/or fall.

On the other hand, from a tiny acorn an oak tree takes decades to mature, but can withstand incredibly strong storms.  Even when stripped of their leaves, oak trees survive because of their strength and their incredible root systems.

If you are struggling in a waiting season and seeing no appreciable growth, perhaps it is in this season that God is growing your roots, something beneath the surface, or inside of you, that is not visible.  It is often in the waiting that we grow and are strengthened.  Embrace the season, knowing that it is a season, and seasons change.

When you’re waiting, don’t worry.  Remember — breathe — while you’re waiting, God is working.

Still Believing!