The Waiting

If I have a favorite thing to do, it most certainly is not waiting.

Waiting is atrocious. I think this is why I like to utilize technology so much. Think about it. If I can carry around an iPhone with me all day long, I virtually have to wait for NOTHING. No waiting in line at the pharmacy. No waiting in line to buy movie tickets. No waiting in traffic because the GPS function tells me where back-ups are. No waiting at the bookstore because I can just order a book from the Amazon app and have it delivered directly to my house. No waiting on international or local news because I can just check Twitter every 30 seconds or so and find out what’s going on somewhere, anywhere on the planet. AND no being put on hold at the pizza place because I can also just order my pizza from my favorite pizza place’s app! It’s FABULOUS!

So this world that I live in and consistently surround myself with conditions me to never have to wait….for anything…ever. So when I’m getting the signal in my spiritual life to “wait” I usually have a huge problem with that.

Waiting requires patience. Waiting requires not having the answer right away. Waiting requires faith and lots of it. I am so conditioned in my daily life to be able to “google” something and immediately find an answer to some question that I have, I get perturbed when I can’t just google answers to questions like, “Lord, who do I know who needs to know You?” “Lord, what does my future look like?” “Lord, why have You not given me what You’ve given other people that I know are no bigger or better Christians than I am?”

There are lessons in the waiting. And in the waiting, my faith builds. And builds. And gets stronger. And larger. Until my faith is something larger than me and my ego and any hardships that might come my way in my lifetime.

But until my faith expands to that large capacity, there are many lessons left to be learned in the waiting. The waiting doesn’t give me the answer, but God does. And when God wants me to wait, I will wait and trust and broadcast to everyone around me what God is teaching me in the waiting.

And I will trust that what I’m learning in the waiting might just be greater than that which I’m waiting for.

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” — Genesis 12:1