You're Not Behind

I often feel as if I’m stuck in the waiting room of life. Waiting for a situation to change, a relationship to be repaired, an uncertainty to become predictability. Much of the time, nothing changes, and the wait continues.

I learn the most about myself and about my faith in Jesus (and in other people) during these challenging times. The wait might sometimes be for my benefit alone, but often the waiting I endure is for the sake of someone else. God knows and sees things I don’t. He is always working in my life and in yours. Transformation follows His timeline alone. As much as we might want to, we cannot rush things along.

I need to stop the desire to skip ahead to the good part. There’s growth in the middle. There’s a plan and purpose to it all. Sure, skipping to the good part, the end, the resolution would be great. Or so it seems. But there’s a reason for the waiting. God is in it with us. We aren’t left alone to fend for ourselves and figure it all out. We might never figure it all out this side of eternity, and we need to be okay with that. We don’t have to like it, but we do need to accept it.

The only way out of a waiting season is to go through it.

The wait shapes our character. It helps point us in the right direction, giving clarity that can sometimes only come from time. By no means is waiting easy, especially when you’re waiting on other people. But fighting back against angst and frustration strengthens us and helps shape our faith. We learn so much that we can’t otherwise. This is hard-earned wisdom given by God, but we must endure the wait. He alone sees the finish line.

Our trust and faith grow when we allow God’s will to be done over our desire to be done.

You might be waiting on someone’s repentance, your physical healing, financial relief, a diagnosis, a prodigal son, time in hospice, clarity for next steps, wisdom for a decision, a day off, a promotion, your one true love, or a host of other things. I know I’m not the only one waiting for things on that list. The wait is not easy. While you’re in it, it always seems too long. But we can trust God in the wait.

We come through to the other side having gained more than we realize. It isn’t only that we may receive repentance, a promotion, or meet our special someone; it’s that we are changed in the waiting. Even if what we wait for never comes to pass, that does not mean God fails to use our time in the trenches. And even if our waiting does not end in this lifetime, we still gain so much.

We gain a stronger faith. We now better understand our need to be grounded in the truth of God’s word. We place greater value on prayer. We understand the need for encouragement and how important it is that we offer it. We can now comfort someone walking through the same challenge.

So as much as we dislike waiting, let it do its work. Let it work all that God has for us in the messy middle of it. Amen? Amen!

What are you learning in the messy middle of waiting?