I don’t like to wait. My whole life I have felt like time itself is such a precious commodity that to spend it just waiting seems like such a waste. It’s hard to find enough time for all the things we have to do in life; waiting makes it even harder to fit things in. When I plan out errands or events, I schedule things so that I can arrive at the exact moment I’ll have enough time to get ready but not have to wait around extra. I have taken papers to grade to school meetings before the opening announcements started. I even multitask while I am cooking at home so that I don’t lose time waiting on the water to boil.
Efficient, right? How about well-organized? Or maybe just resourceful and a good time-manager?
In some ways, yes. But is waiting always a bad thing? In American culture, I believe we have ingrained it into our minds that it is. Being in Latin-America though, one discovers that quickly that waiting is a much more common, and valuable part of life that we fast-paced Americans have given it credit for. While waiting for lunch to be served, for example, my team shares precious moments of laughter and jokes. Waiting for paint to be bought, then for brushes to be found, and then for masking tape to show up can be an excellent time to practice Spanish and chat with and befriend local ministry contacts. Waiting for you turn in the shower in the morning is a valuable window for morning prayers, and waiting for a truck or bus to show up to carry us downtown, to another ministry location, or back home to our tents opens doors for bouncing ideas off ministry contacts and hearing their testimonies.
Once we start slowing down a little in our daily lives, it is a whole lot easier to start seeing the benefits of waiting upon the God of the universe too. This month my team has acknowledged feelings of hitting spiritual plateaus, being discontent with our personal growth and consistency in spiritual disciplines like bible reading, memorization, and prayer time, and struggling to hear God speaking to us. With an upcoming layover in California and a complete change of culture next month, some have also identified difficulty in being completely content with where they are at because they are eager to move on to the next phase. But by responding to these struggles and anxieties with patience and trust in the Lord’s perfect timing, we can begin to understand how great His blessings are for those to wait upon Him.
In Acts we see Jesus telling his disciples, “but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.” (1:4). I am sure the disciples wanted to receive the gift right away! Jesus was referring to the Holy Spirit, but He knew that it would be after He returned to heaven that the disciples would really need that gift, to serve as their guide and comforter.
In Titus, we see how during this period of waiting for Jesus’ return, we are going through a time of learning and growing as we receive God’s grace: “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope-the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (2:11-13).
And finally, way back in Isaiah we have an example of how waiting can be part of God’s plan to show us grace, compassion, and justice: “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!” (30:18).
Recently a dear friend sent me an email about how blessed she feels in her life right now. She has gone through many struggles, challenges, and frustrations in the past, but because she remained faithful to the Lord in prayer and devotion during those times and trusted that He would carry her through it, her period of “waiting” has led to a present abundance of joy and contentment that clearly declares the Lord’s faithfulness in her life.
Even in our spiritual life we can be challenged to wait patiently upon the Lord. In Psalms we find encouragement: “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” (27:14). We can be confident that when we hand over control of our spiritual growth to God, He will soften our hearts and grow us in new and exciting ways, because He desires good things for us. And from my own experiences, I have discovered that when I do finally submit to God’s perfect timing, I never have to wait long for Him to pour out blessings on me in return.
