Waiting: Is it really the worst part?
Waiting. Some say it’s the worst part, although that probably depends what you’re waiting for.
We probably spend more time than we care to think about waiting. Waiting for the end of the working day. Waiting for the weekend. Counting down to holidays, to Christmas (oops, did I just use that word in September?), to birthdays. Waiting for buses, for trains, for friends who were going to “just be five minutes” 10 minutes ago.
We’re currently waiting for our baby to arrive. And, regardless of where any of us stands politically, we’re all waiting, one way or another, to see what will happen with the B-word (not going to make the ‘Christmas’, mistake again) and what the future holds for the country and its people.
Waiting can be frustrating, agonising, worrying. It can also be exciting and filled with anticipation. It all depends on that for which we are waiting, and the way in which we choose to wait.
Sometimes there is nothing we can do but wait, like the frustrating wait for a delayed bus, or perhaps that “only five minutes away” friend. Other times we are active in waiting, like packing for a holiday or preparing a house for a new arrival.
In many, if not all, circumstances the waiting is part of the overall experience, and in many cases it’s something that we can turn into a positive experience if we set our minds to it.
Often having to wait rather than getting everything we want as soon as we want it helps us develop patience, endurance and, in many cases, faith.
The Bible is full of instances when God has made His people wait for things, and in waiting they have found themselves blessed in ways they had never imagined.
In Genesis chapters six and seven, the Bible tells how Noah was instructed by God to make an ark for protection against a flood which had not yet begun. He faithfully obeyed, waiting actively for the flood by making the preparations he had been instructed to make. And then, once the ark was complete, he was called upon to wait for a further seven days. It’s possible Noah might have wondered whether he’d misunderstood God. It was certainly an unusual task he had been set when there were no signs of bad weather on the way. But, however unusual, he faithfully obeyed and waited for what God had said would happen to become reality.
In Genesis chapter 17, God made a promise to 99-year-old Abraham that he would become the father of many nations and kings, through a son yet to be born to his wife at the age of 90, and that his family would inherit the land of Canaan. To many it may have seemed an illogical and unlikely promise, but Abraham waited patiently and, when required, actively. And in time, as God had promised, his son Isaac was born. Then eventually, after much waiting and a fair bit of testing of Abraham and those who came after, the Promised Land was eventually inherited by his descendants. Abraham himself never saw the fulfillment of the full promise but his patient, faithful waiting, and the similar actions of his offspring, set the wheels in motion for God to do as He had pledged. Their wait was fruitful.
In Hebrews chapter 11, verses 13 and 16, the Bible says of these and others, “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance… Instead they were longing for a better country – a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”
The most significant promise of God for those of us living today is the promise that, thanks to Jesus giving himself to die on the cross as punishment for all our wrongdoings, all who believe in Him and accept Him as their Lord and Saviour can have eternal life with Him. That promise is not immediately fulfilled at the point a person turns their life around to trust in Him, and it is not an assurance that life will be a bed of roses until its fulfilment. But it is a cause of faithful – and active – waiting.
Those who die with their faith in Christ know that they will go on to be with Him. And those still living who have their faith in Jesus look forward to the day He will return to the Earth and take home all those who trust in Him. The challenge, though, is that only God knows the day and the hour at which Jesus will return. In the meantime, His people must do all they can to be ready, and this requires active waiting. It’s not a sitting on your hands, admiring the scenery, wondering if the bus will ever arrive kind of waiting. It’s a getting as prepared as possible, helping others to prepare, focusing on Jesus and being as ready as we can be for His arrival. It’s about reading the messages He has given us through the Bible, learning what they mean in our lives and putting them into practice. And as we do that, we find ourselves growing and becoming more and more fruitful for Him.
Sometimes the waiting is a blessing, especially when it is filled with faith for a God-given promise.
“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Psalm 27, verse 14.
Sarah Moore is the author of For the Love of Lentil, A journey of longing, loss and abundant grace, which tells the story of her experience of pregnancy and miscarriage. Copies of the book are available here.