Traveling has always been fun to me. I LOVE riding on planes. I like them because planes mean adventure, it means that we are going somewhere so far, that air travel is faster. In the past 5 days I have been on 4 airplanes, 2 large busses, and several 15 passenger vans that carried quite a few more than 15 passengers. Needless to say, as much as I love the adventure that travel brings, it’s the destination that makes the travel worth it.
Patience however, has never been my strong suit. I despise waiting. As I have gotten older, I’ve learned how to do it, but only out of necessity and the sheer fact that if I let my impatience rule over me, I would probably be in jail. (My punishable offense you ask? It would have most certainly been something traffic related. The left lane is the passing lane people, not the “do 5 miles under the speed limit” lane)
I digress, so, it has taken us 5 days of traveling to make it to our ministry site here in Livingstone, Zambia. I still love traveling, but let me tell you, I am so thankful to be here! I found myself getting discouraged as we waited and waited. From hostel, to taxi, to bus, to hostel, taxi, bus, and finally home. Sitting here in the room that I will call my own for the next month thinking about how to word this blog, I have decided to be utterly transparent over these next 11 months about what God is doing in my heart and about my response. God seems to always ask me to be very real about my struggles and His triumphs and so I shall.
Here we go.
I was beginning to get discourage about how long our trip was taking because I felt useless. It wasn’t something that could be helped, but none the less it was a bit of a struggle. I am a person who thrives on purpose. I wake each day saying my usual “Good morning Jesus!” and then pray and plan my day. (Side note: When I plan and then pray, the day almost always sucks. Usually because I’m asking God to bless MY plans, instead of asking to be a part of His)
As I waited, from bus to bus, taxi to taxi, I smiled at the kids on the bus, and spoke to a few people. I read some, and prayed some. I was constantly trying to make good use of the fact that in it’s rawest form, these travel days have been a series of waiting moments. And as you all know by now, I don’t like waiting.
Sitting on the floor of my room I think about the verse in Isaiah, it’s a favorite of mine:
“They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall rise up like wings on eagles, they shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not be faint.”
Waiting is a time of preparation. You can’t RE-new something unless it’s gotten UN-new (I know that’s not a word, but just follow me for a sec) If something needs to be renewed that means that it’s lost it’s initial strength, or sharpness. As much as I despised waiting on that bus, I needed that prayer time. As much as I longed to see the people we were to minister to, the ones right before my eyes were the ones God placed there first.
I’ve learned something during this long trip. We must learn to wait well, if we don’t we run the risk of becoming tired, anxious, fearful and even angry. As we wait, God desires to renew our strength, to refresh us, to make us new again. Don’t despise the waiting moments in your life, allow God to do great things in you and enjoy the rest. There is significance in that, just as there is in DOING the work.
