WAITING

“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.” — Anne Lamott

Exodus 24:12-18
1 Kings 19:1-18
Romans 8:22-25

From traffic lights to lines in grocery stores, so much of life seems to consist of waiting. The minutes in between our daily activities consume a surprising chunk of our time. And this waiting frustrates us, because we never scheduled it. I dread the day where everything takes so much longer than expected, and I complete only half of my to-do list. Waiting reminds us that it’s not all about ourselves. Another plan supersedes our own.

Whether we like it or not, we must wait on certain issues. Jesus tells us that it matters how we wait. He tells parables of the coming kingdom, of people who were caught unaware. He tells us to keep our lamps ready, because we must remain vigilant, in preparation for the unexpected. We choose this moment by moment, day by day. We must strive to stay awake for what the Lord is doing.

If we allow ourselves, we can build our awareness of God through waiting. Instead of obsessing over circumstances out of our control, we can resolve to see the wait as a gift and be uniquely available to the Lord.

Waiting is not punishment. God uses waiting as an opportunity to refine our faith. Elijah waited 40 days beside the mouth of a cave to hear God’s still-small voice. Moses waited 40 days on Mount Sinai before receiving the Ten Commandments. Waiting builds patience and humility in us: two things that don’t come easily.

There will come a time when the waiting will be over, and the very plans of God will be made known. There will be no more confusion, frustration or waiting. All will be revealed. The Apostle Paul writes: “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (2 Corinthians 13:12).

In the meantime? Jesus told his disciples to live as though that time of revelation were upon us. He put it like this: “the work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent” (John 6:29). Believe that the plan works for your good, that the plan itself is good, and that the one who made it loves you.

What things in your life do you feel you’re waiting on?
How are you waiting?
What does believing God look like in the midst of waiting?

Amy