Seeing the great in the wait!

Today I felt like I was in love. I’m overwhelmed by the idea that God will never leave me nor forsake me! I was literally at my desk thinking about God like I have thought about my love interests in the past. Stomach full of butterflies of knowing that I am loved well beyond what man can give. Now I’m resting in the know that I can live each NEW day differently than yesterday. It opens up the possibilities of a FULL life, a complete life. Everyday I have been going to work thinking how long is this project going to last? How long will I be here in this town where I have no friends, no family, no one I can call up and just be like…lets go do this or that? There must be a reason that I haven’t found a companion here. I was just talking to my friend yesterday about this as I don’t strongly feel lead to go anywhere without having doubts about it. Like one of the few places I can think of going to is New York and even then I know I would miss the point of what I should be chasing by chasing a guy instead of chasing God. (Matt 6:33) So I wait...IN LOVE!

As I'm waiting God brings to my remembrance, a time when a minister at my church talked about how he went a whole TWO years in a “waiting” period. He didn’t find public opportunities to deliver a sermon to people. No one wanted to hear him speak. No opportunities came up that he was lead to pursue. He was so desperate to speak. This was his calling! I’m thinking to myself, this guy? Oh no!! This is the same guy that speaks so much life regarding the word of God in thousands of people lives all over the world. This was what his career waiting period was like. During this period though he still knew he needed to serve. At conferences he would help set up the chairs and assist the setup crew. He knew that his waiting period had purpose so he humbled himself before God and served those around him. He needed to learn humility in that wait phase because his desire was to lead. Like the saying goes, “In order to be a leader one must be a great servant!” (Matt 20:26) Waiting periods aren’t the most beautiful time of our lives but they are the most necessary. It’s like when we wait in line for the bathroom and the line is long! We have to be patient as we wait because ultimately Nature is calling and we yearn to get in there and get out! This is like one of the shortest necessary times of waiting but isn't it like the most dreadful!?! We don’t want to ruin the wait with thoughts of stress and hurry...especially when we know our perspective can help in the wait.

This is exactly how life is! While we were in elementary school, we couldn't wait until we were in middle school. When we were in high school we couldn’t wait until college. When we get our careers set we can’t wait to get married. We stress about everything in between IF we are not careful. What then? Does marriage complete us? Can we come to the conclusion that we’ve arrived or have become complete in that phase in life? Are we ready for the responsibility or are we just ready to finish the phase of singleness? We yearn for the next phase in life and forget that we are unconsciously forcing time to go by in hopes for something better. Without thinking about it we waste away the wait. We don’t understand why but there is purpose in it. Doesn't growing come with everything in between and as we grow...growth doesn't disappoint us. God calls us to wait. (Psalm 27:14) God sees our hearts desires and will give us just that (Psalm 37:4) so getting what we want isn't the issue. Our waiting isn't equivalent to purposeless. It feels like a void but doesn't it mean there is more room to fill? 20 more years...or 1 more year of waiting could mean becoming the person that you never thought you'd ever be! Job waited on the Lord, got stripped from all of his riches and then everything was restored like never before! My old pastor waited to see his small church congregation multiply and when he stopped stressing about the waiting period of progress he started to see God fill the seats greatly! Usually when things are rushed you get rushed results. If our lives are Christ’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10) then wouldn’t that mean years of waiting is part of Life's long process? We must learn why we are waiting and if God calls us to do just that then lets wait like our WHOLE life depended on it!