With less than 2 weeks until training camp and about 2 months until my team actually launches, there are many feelings that come to mind- stress, excitement, joy, and did I mention stress? This waiting period has been one of the hardest yet most humbling things I have experienced.
There are many things I have learned in this period of waiting and relying on God. We’re all well-acquainted with waiting. Ask anyone and you’ll hear about people waiting for jobs, to become parents, for companionship, for healing, reconciliation, direction, the list goes on. All the while society encourages, even glorifies things like instant gratification, express lanes, fast passes, next-day shipping, buy now pay later, you get the idea.
On the outside, getting what we want when we want it sounds great. But does that really match up with what we say we believe? God is a perfect, sovereign, all-powerful Creator. I have to believe that He doesn’t make mistakes or forget or overlook. So that is where I started in this time of hope and even stress. God too is a waiter like you and me. Yet He connects waiting with His promises. The prophet Isaiah wrote…
“Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore He will rise to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!” (Isaiah 30:18)
He later continues…
“but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31)
Thinking on those words, I can’t help but notice a common theme- waiting for God. Not just waiting for His return, but for Him- His character, His love, His grace, His guidance. Not on the thing that I think I’m waiting for. Having to wait requires me to think about the extent of my need and my failure to do things on my own. Having to wait exposes who I need to trust and depend on. Having to wait allows for my personal growth, maturity, and sometimes the opportunity to enjoy the things I can only enjoy at this unique time.
God is fearlessly committed to the process of what He is doing in and through me, whether I realize it or not. He knows what I need and He knows how I feel. And in His great love, He doesn’t give in to my immediate requests, or more-so demands, when He knows the greatness of what He has in mind instead.
God has been asking me to look beyond myself. He asks me to wait for Him and His purposes in His timing because of who I know He is. Even today, as my flesh demands answers and help, a deeper question awaits me- Do I trust God enough to wait for Him?
So in this period of waiting and stress, I can only look to Him for strength and guidance. I encourage you, if you’re feeling anything similar, to look to Him as well in your period of waiting.
