The Pain of Waiting
No one likes to wait. If by chance we are given a timeline on when the wait will be over, it still requires us to wait. So what makes waiting painful? Is it our posture or what we are doing while we are waiting?
There were other parts of the pain series that I wanted to discuss but I feel that ending it with the "Pain of Waiting" was ideal. In observation, waiting seems to be the hardest thing for a lot of people to do. I believe that is just the problem. Sitting around and just waiting. The definition of the word waiting is:
to remain inactive or in a state of repose, as until something expected happens.
This means that there is no activity, the mind is just sitting. There is nothing or no one really helping you through the process of waiting on something that you know will happen or hoping that it will happen.
There may be many of you that are waiting on a new job, waiting on a marriage, waiting on monetary increase, waiting for others to mature, waiting for a spouse to act right, etc etc. There are so many things and actions that we are waiting on but what are you doing while you wait? Are you praying about your request or are you stewing because it did not come in your time frame?
Waiting done wrong can make it seem that God has forgotten all about us. That He has forgotten what we had put down pen to paper, that He has forgotten the Word spoken over our life, that He has forgotten His promises that He has made to us.
There is a purpose to waiting if done right. Sitting on our hands and twiddling our thumbs serves no purpose in preparing us for what we are waiting for. Waiting this way makes us angry, impatient, and anxious. In so much, that we start to lose faith in the God that told us we had something coming our way.
So how is waiting supposed to be done? There is something missing with this word waiting that makes it less painful and that is patience.
There is a difference between simply waiting and waiting patiently. The definition of patient is:
able to accept or tolerate delays, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious.
Psalm 27:14 reminds us to:
"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord".
Also in 2 Peter 3:9 it states that
" The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance"
With that being said, the Lord is often so patient with us, so what is causing us to not be patient with His promises? I am probably gonna step on some toes with this one, but could it be lack or very little devotion that we give to Him? Do we wait just on Sunday mornings to give Him what is due?
Waiting becomes easier while remaining patient with the Word of God. We have something to focus on and something that will provide strength. Earlier I mentioned that there is purpose in waiting when done right.
Waiting can be a means of transformation in order to transition into the blessing and promise. No one doesn't like the pain of transforming. You become unlike you once were and into the thing God always willed for you to be. Sometimes it becomes so hard to let go of the old man to make room for what God wants you to do. This requires patience while waiting. God may have given you a heads up that there is a thing He must do in you first and it may take a season. In my eyes and personal experience this is definitively worth the wait.
God Bless