Hurry up and WAIT

Let's be honest.  Waiting sucks. It is no fun.  It is painful and sometimes, in my opinion, worse than a no, because you are required to have faith and trust and hope even longer, even though that can one day be thwarted. 

And waiting can be so dissapointing, even if the end answer is a yes.  Ask any woman who pees on a stick monthly or any single who has yet another bad first date or another relationship end.

And yet, I am fully convinced that few things grow your faith like waiting.  This is not to say that those that don't wait for babies, marriages, jobs and good health don't grow, but I do think that the daily exhausting battle with yourself to keep on walking in faith even when you don't feel like it is used by God in good painful and sanctifying ways.

I know you are all rolling your eyes because this has been one of my favorite topics...for the past few years...which is partly self focused I know. We tend to talk about and write about what we are experiancing.  But its also because I know so many sweet people who are struggling through waiting right now -- waiting on school, adoptions, babies, proposals, relationships, etc.  And  I am both sad and happy for them at the same time -- because God does good things in the waiting!

So all that leadup to share this article with you: HURRY UP AND WAIT  It's a gem of an article.  I agree, my waiting became more strong, less difficult when I was expectant in my waiting. Let me share some good truth from that article with you.

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? 
The Lord is the everlasting God, 
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
 He does not faint or grow weary;
 his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint,
 and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary,
 and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
 they shall mount up with wings like eagles; 
they shall run and not be weary; 
they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:28-31

I think of a bride getting ready to see her husband at the end of the aisle. I’ve not yet been a bride, but I’ve been in my fair share of weddings and I think we all know the length of time it takes for the wedding party (particularly the girls) to get ready for the ceremony, and rightfully so. We spend all day primping (while the guys play golf and then get ready in 30 minutes tops!), then, about an hour before the ceremony, all of the sudden everything comes to a complete halt and we sit, and wait. And often have a moment of panic. All of our hustling and hurrying and scurrying around all day, to sit and wait. That hour before the ceremony is the hardest hour of the day, in my opinion, but the expectation of what’s ahead brings unspeakable joy. She waits with expectation.

But most times, our waiting is much longer than any of us like to think or wait, but if we only knew what He had in store for us, we know the waiting would be worth it. My sweet coworker KMac said it best, “We wouldn’t appreciate ANYTHING without a little delay and anticipation.” And all the people said amen. 

That’s why in the waiting we wait with hope. We wait with expectancy. We wait in patience. We wait in prayer. We wait in strength.

Most times, the waiting really isn’t about the waiting, it’s about becoming.

But know that even when you become tired in the waiting, the Lord is still working out every little detail.

You and I are waiting on the Lord to move in different ways, provide different things, and surprise us along the way. Instead of growing weaker, let us grow stronger. If you find yourself in any kind of waiting season, find things that stir your affections for Christ and pursue those.  Maybe the Lord’s given you a gift you’ve let get dusty, pick it up and start practicing that craft. Whatever you do, don’t put your life on hold. Panic and worry do nothing but drain us of any energy or hope we may have had.  This may sound harsh, but is there anything more unfulfiling that becoming selfish and living for yourself in our season of waiting?