Hurry up and wait.
Hurry up and wait for the bus.
Hurry up and wait for dinner.
Hurry up and wait for the shower.
Hurry up and wait!
I don’t know about you, but I don’t really like this phrase. My inner-self, influenced by the dark side of my love language, quality time, screams that hurrying up to wait is a waste. Why hurry up to do anything or prepare when I’ll just have to wait? Why not try to guess when the exact time will be and go fill the time with something more productive? It’s time spent doing nothing when I could be doing something. Why hurry up and wait?
As much as it pains me, I’ve begun to learn why; there’re two reasons:
1) Because that’s how God often works.
2) Because it honors those around you.
We see this in the Bible. The Disciples got caught up in the frenzy of the Passover and crucifixion, only to have to wait for the resurrection. This honored God, and God also used the time to teach them so much more than if Jesus’ death and resurrection had been quicker. They later then had to return to Jerusalem, only to have to wait for the Holy Spirit during a time the city was in an uproar with the Romans and Jews at each others throats. But again, God came through with an incredible out-pouring of His Spirit and thousands came to faith.
Another example is when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, only to have to wait for God at the Red Sea and one of the biggest miracles in the Bible followed. David also had to wait when he was anointed, only to have God take him through years of preparation and trials before becoming king. These are only a few of the examples in scripture that show how God uses timing that we don’t think is right to prepare us for dreams and possibilities we don’t even know we have yet.
Not only that but waiting also honors those we’re around. Whether it’s hurrying up only to wait and let a teammate take the first shower or being ready ten minutes early, only to have your ride show up an hour late, hurrying up to wait is a major way to show people that you respect and honor them. It doesn’t require much on your part but doing this in joy goes so far in creating and developing lasting, deep, relationships.
God has taught me a lot through waiting these past few months, and I’ve seen how relationships can be both created and damaged through how I wait. When we hurry up and wait in joy, we have the opportunity and power to do and learn so much. That’s why I’ve found that it can be incredible to just let go and let God. Hurry up and wait and see God work.
“Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day.” Psalm 25:5
God Bless!
-Ben
(Stay tuned for an update on what we’re doing here in Peru!)
