I hate waiting. Waiting for news – good or bad. Waiting for things to get fixed. Waiting for things to get done. Waiting for the people in front of you to check out. Waiting for a light to turn green. Waiting for the dog to do its business. Waiting, waiting, waiting.
Waiting is something that we tend to do a lot of and yet it is nearly viewed as a sin in our culture. After all, waiting is synonymous with doing nothing. In our culture we value success and success requires that you do something. In our culture we value getting things done, accomplishing tasks, building, growing, inventing, making more and earning more. We don't honor Edison because he waited for a light bulb to turn on. We honor Edison because he made a light bulb. Waiting, just sitting and waiting is considered wasted time. Time in which nothing is getting accomplished.
Of course maybe we just don't understand waiting. Maybe it is in the waiting that things really are accomplished. At least this should be true for a follower of Christ. If we understand waiting as the time in which we are abiding in Christ; the time in which we are in the court of the King; the time when we are at the feet of the Master, then truly nothing greater can be accomplished than being with the Father.
We should also acknowledge that waiting is a struggle because it is in waiting that we feel most out of control. Let's face it, the reason you are waiting is because you cannot speed up whatever it is that you are waiting on. Waiting for something means that something is out of your hands. But isn't this precisely the best place to be – out of control? More precisely to be in God's control. This is what it means to believe in Christ, isn't it? To trust in His sovereignty and to have our lives in His hands.
Perhaps the reason I hate waiting is that too much of the time I am waiting alone. Instead of abiding in Him I am abiding in my own mind, my own desires, and my own strength. Perhaps the reason I hate waiting is because in doing so I have nothing to "show" anyone of what is being accomplished. Then again nothing could be better than to show a life of one who is waiting in the arms of the Father, desiring to know Him, and to delight in His glory.
Waiting is something that we tend to do a lot of and yet it is nearly viewed as a sin in our culture. After all, waiting is synonymous with doing nothing. In our culture we value success and success requires that you do something. In our culture we value getting things done, accomplishing tasks, building, growing, inventing, making more and earning more. We don't honor Edison because he waited for a light bulb to turn on. We honor Edison because he made a light bulb. Waiting, just sitting and waiting is considered wasted time. Time in which nothing is getting accomplished.
Of course maybe we just don't understand waiting. Maybe it is in the waiting that things really are accomplished. At least this should be true for a follower of Christ. If we understand waiting as the time in which we are abiding in Christ; the time in which we are in the court of the King; the time when we are at the feet of the Master, then truly nothing greater can be accomplished than being with the Father.
We should also acknowledge that waiting is a struggle because it is in waiting that we feel most out of control. Let's face it, the reason you are waiting is because you cannot speed up whatever it is that you are waiting on. Waiting for something means that something is out of your hands. But isn't this precisely the best place to be – out of control? More precisely to be in God's control. This is what it means to believe in Christ, isn't it? To trust in His sovereignty and to have our lives in His hands.
Perhaps the reason I hate waiting is that too much of the time I am waiting alone. Instead of abiding in Him I am abiding in my own mind, my own desires, and my own strength. Perhaps the reason I hate waiting is because in doing so I have nothing to "show" anyone of what is being accomplished. Then again nothing could be better than to show a life of one who is waiting in the arms of the Father, desiring to know Him, and to delight in His glory.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5 ESV)
"For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness."
(Psalm 84:10 ESV)
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