I don’t know about you but in my opinion, waiting for anything is frustrating. Whether we’re waiting for a test result or a doctor’s appointment, a holiday or special event, an exciting trip or vacation. Even if the event we’re waiting for is a good thing, it’s hard to think of an instance where waiting is enjoyable.
In my case, we’re anxiously awaiting a new addition. A sweet little boy that will be here in less than 3 weeks! During any pregnancy, waiting is definitely something you, kind of, get used to. You wait for the next doctors’ appointment, next ultrasound, you wait to start showing, you wait in waiting rooms and mostly you wait to see the face of a little human your body grew but haven’t gotten to meet yet.
Recently, I had to wait for answers in my life and in my pregnancy. What, in my opinion, should have taken a couple of weeks took almost 4 months to be resolved. Thankfully in the last possible minute, the matter was taken care of and thankfully just DAYS before I needed it to be. The more I think about it now, the more I see that God had a plan in it. I’m still not quite sure what He was sparing me from, or what all that time was needed for but I have this feeling that things worked out the way they did because God was protecting or shielding me from something. I may never really know the answer to that but I know God has a way of working things out and often does it just in the nick of time.
That being said those 4 months weren’t easy, in fact, there were definitely times when I was worried and stressed. I didn’t trust God nearly as much as I wanted to. If I’m honest I allowed that situation to make me a little angry and some-what resentful. My prayers looked less like “God help me to be patient and trust you” and more like “Why aren’t you doing anything”. At some point in this process, I lost faith in the fact that God was working, even though I couldn’t see it.
I know, it’s easy to say all of that now. Now that I’m no longer waiting, now that my problem had an amazing resolution. Would I feel the same had things worked out differently? I’d like to say “yes” and I’d really like to believe I would, but to be honest,
I’m not sure…
What I am sure of is, waiting is a part of life, everyone has to wait somewhere, for something, all the time. The bible talks about waiting also. Pretty much the entire Old Testament is talking about God’s people waiting for something. Abraham and Sarah were waiting on a child, Noah was waiting on a flood, Jonah waited inside a fish, Moses and his people waited for deliverance and freedom, the Israelites waited in the desert, you get the picture. God’s people have never been the exception to the “waiting” rule if anything they were right in the middle of it!
We can also see in the bible how waiting wasn’t always done well. We see time and time again where God’s people took it upon themselves to “take matters into their own hands”. We also see time and time again, how things take a dramatic turn for the worse when that happens. Instead of waiting on God, man has this uncontrollable desire to make things happen in their own time, often altering the original plans God has for us.
In my situation, I tried all of those things too. I tried to do everything I possibly could to figure out a solution. All the while becoming more frustrated because I was trying everything I was “supposed” to do and still nothing was happening. It wasn’t until I came to the realization, I could do nothing else, I didn’t have anything else to try that a solution was provided for me. I wonder now if God was waiting on that. Was God holding off an answer for me because He wanted me to stop fighting so hard and trust? Could I have had peace of mind earlier if I would have just given it to God from the start? Given God’s track record I’d be willing to say,
it’s more than likely!
So, learn a lesson from my mistake. When waiting, ask God what He is trying to do in that time we have. Be more open-handed with the worries we have and let God have His way from the start. I’d be willing to say His timing is better than ours anyway!
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