Dressed for summer heat, I shivered in a cold office as I waited for the doctor to come in.   I waited. And waited. My stomach growled, reminding me it was lunchtime. Finally giving up, I peeked my head out the door and went to find someone–only to find out that the staff had left for lunch. Who does that?

This brings me to a couple of my least favorite words–especially when they show up together: wait. patiently.

Aghhhh….waiting is hard, and it seems we spend half our days waiting on something or someone. Waiting is uncomfortable, often filled with unanswered questions, frustrations, and uncertainties.

Waiting is what we do in the gap between now and not yet.

Waiting for things to change.

Too often, I have equated waiting with a powerlessness and inactivity–we can do nothing now but wait kind of thinking. There is a lack of control in waiting that can drive us nuts if we are make-it-happen kind of people.

Then there are the dark days of discouragement in which waiting looks and feels a lot like failure. Sometimes we interpret waiting as failure on God’s part to answer our prayers, to give us what we needed. We do all kinds of crazy spiritual and mental gymnastics when we’re stuck in the waiting rooms of faith.

Waiting can seem like lost time. However, in God’s economy, waiting is never a wasted opportunity. <Tweet this.

He is using the wait for His purposes.

What are you waiting for?

The better question is WHO are we waiting for? Too often, I’m not waiting for God. I’m waiting for a situation to change, something to happen, a time to come. I’m all wrapped up in the moment, and I forget that God is in the waiting.

When waiting makes us feel forgotten.

Think about many characters in the bible–waiting was significant portion of their lives.  Joseph and Paul spent many days in prison–it probably seemed like God was never going to answer. Without patience born of faith, it would have seemed that God had forgotten them.

Remember David? Knowing that he had been anointed as king of Israel,  he spent years running and fighting for his life…waiting on God.

Just waiting…

All of these things–ourselves, other people, our situations, our hopes–they are all wrapped up in God. They are in His hands; He is sovereign and it is in Him that we live and move and have our being. He is the One who sets the boundaries and sustains all things.

When we learn to wait patiently for Him, we grow in faith. We begin to believe that He has a reason, a plan, a purpose.  Patience is nourished by faith, and this makes all the difference as we learn to wait with purpose.

You can’t wait patiently if you’re not resting in Him. And you can’t rest if you’re not trusting in Him. The clear instructions in Psalm 37: 1-7 are all life strategies to make the most of every day, even in the waiting days.

Especially in the waiting days.

What are you waiting for?

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