Waiting

“Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!” Psalm 27:14 NKJV

Why is waiting so hard? We talk about it, we sing about it, we pout about it, but why do we hate it so much? (Unless we’re waiting on a woman, right Brad Paisley?) We’re waiting on the world to change. Waiting for a girl like you. Waiting for my time to come. A lot of life requires waiting. It’s painful. We want it NOW!

A lot of friends have been waiting lately. For test results, for babies to make an appearance, for a birth mother to match with them, for a paycheck, for a job. The uncertainty is tough. Why, oh why does God insist on making us wait? I’ve heard it said that God usually answers our prayers with “Yes”, “No” or “Wait”. Timing is everything, right?

What happens to us in the waiting? It truly is a discipline. In Psalm 27:14, that short little verse, it says twice to wait on the Lord. When we wait, we have to cling to God’s promises and dive deeply into prayer so we can learn more about God’s character. We look for what He might be teaching us in the waiting. If we had our answer right away, we might not build up that relationship. Just like His word says, He will strengthen our hearts. And then this amazing thing happens. Most of the time, we look back, and the waiting doesn’t seem so bad. We see the fruits of our labor. Patience is a fruit of the Spirit, after all.

We have become so used to not waiting. We can buy almost anything on Amazon and have it on our doorstep in a day, with one click options so we don’t even have to enter a credit card number. I remember buying a Flintstones toy off a cereal box in the early nineties, and it took four to six WEEKS to come in. It was about the size of a Hot Wheels, and worth about as much as a Happy Meal toy. I’m sure I paid $6.95 for shipping and handling, but that was normal. We waited in lines without smart phones. We sat in traffic and listened to the radio without an instant map of better routes. We waited for our favorite bands’ CDs to release, and we drove to the mall to buy them, without instant downloads or pre-orders. We had to save up our money, and wait for our parents to drive us there. Even with all this,  I know I waited much less than the generations before me. Are faster solutions better? Have we forgotten what it is to wait?

Our generation is waiting on Jesus to come back. Before Jesus’ birth, the people waited on the Messiah. I like to think that they lived like He was coming soon. We may be waiting for five more minutes or 500 more years. We don’t know. But we should live like we are waiting on Him. And not like the cheesy bumper sticker that says “Look busy, Jesus is coming”. I mean really waiting for Him. Living our lives like He is coming any minute. Having an expectant heart. Rejoicing over the fact that today, Jesus could return and fulfill His promise. What does that look like? What do you want to be doing when He comes? I know I don’t want to be mindlessly scrolling through Instagram or gossiping about meaningless matters.

Let’s learn to rejoice in the waiting. Even when it’s hard. We know there’s a reason for it. We know that every second of every day is created by God. Pray for those who are waiting. Pray while you are waiting. Whether it’s green lights or biopsies you’re waiting on, know that God is strengthening your heart as you’re doing it. Wait like you’re waiting on Jesus’ return, and then maybe the world will change.