"Patience is a virtue" – Ancient Proverb
I've never been good with patience. You might say that I am the result of an instant gratification generation. Let's face it, with the world at our finger tips, we have grown accustomed to the "I NEED it right here, right now" mentality, or at least I have anyway. With the ever increasingly popular iPhone, tablets, and wifi accessibility almost anywhere now, we are a generation that is dependent upon being able to get the answer to that question that is bothering us so much right away. You're driving in the car, for instance, and you have a thought. So you ask your passenger,
"You know that film, Batman Begins? Who played Batman?"
"Hmm, I don't know, give me a second and I'll look it up!"
The phone dings and suddenly you have your answer.
"It was Christian Bale!" TAH DUH! The mark of new age technology!
Though this is a silly example, it still makes my point. Our world is running low on patience. Is it really so bad to wait till we get home to check these types of things out?
But maybe this example doesn't "speak to you". Let's take a look at waiting in lines. That;s right, you've just walked into your local Starbucks and the line's "a mile long", (let's face it, it's not THAT bad ;)) You get in line, but the waiting strains you, suddenly your in a bad mood all because your froppa moppa cappuccino deluxe took longer than expected to get. But you just HAD to have it. Now your patience, or what little you had, is completely spent as you drive 85 mph to get to work on time and Lord knows everyone better let you be for a while so you can calm down…. Could this mood swing have been avoided with just a little more patience? I don't know. And let's face it, I am really talking to myself here.
God is revealing to me my own lack of patience, particularly where fundraising is concerned. I seem to be so far behind my squad mates. I sent out support letters last week and now I find myself getting onto my account every day only to be disappointed with the same number looming over me. This lack of funds has been effecting my mood. Lately I've been so cranky and frustrated, it's been ridiculous! I couldn't figure out why I was so angry! I was crying out to God last night, (in a rather spoiled, only child kind of way) "Why can't I have the money NOW? Where is your provision, Lord? If only I had the money. maybe I wouldn't be so stressed and then I wouldn't be so cranky with everyone."
……And so it went for a little while. I had my little fit….. and then, when I had exhausted myself, GOD SPOKE.
"You are a lady in waiting."
Umm, ok. I wasn't quite sure I heard Him correctly. After all, I definitely was not acting like a lady. I hung my head in shame. "But what do you mean Lord?" God began reminding me that there are certain seasons we all must go through. During this whole "battle", I was trying to read a book, "I kissed dating goodbye" by Joshua Harris. On the page I was currently "reading" was a scripture reference for Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace."
Through this reading, God told me that there is a time to wait, and right now is my time. I'm in a season of waiting. I'm waiting for the funds to come in, I'm waiting for God to move. I'm simply waiting. And through the waiting, I will trust Him. He knows what's up. He's got my back.
"Too often people want what they want (or what they think they want, which is usually "happiness" in one form or another) right now. The irony of their impatience is that only by learning to wait, and by a willingness to accept the bad with the good, do we usually attain those things that are truly worthwhile." -William J. Bennet
Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE to wake up tomorrow, check my account, and be notified that I am fully funded! (Jesus, please? :)) But then I would be missing out on something much more important. I would miss the lesson that the waiting can teach me. I would miss the test of patience and trust. I would miss the story I will be able to tell one day about how my Lord provided even when I had my own doubts of time. And those things I do not want to miss. So, I will submit to my Father and embrace this season with open arms. Be encouraged friends! Whatever season you are going through, God has it all planned out and IT IS GOOD!
With Love,
His lady in waiting
