Waiting is Hard


 The society we live in today makes little allowance for waiting. We are taught to expect all things are for our good, as opposed to all things work together for our good. There's a difference. One provides instant gratification, the other takes time. There seems to be an attitude floating around today; one of entitlement, demanding that what I want is what I need - now. The right to pursue happiness has become the right to demand my own way.

 The young person who struggles with patience and life's journey of waiting almost can't be blamed for their struggle. This is what they've grown up with. It is what they see all around them. American Idols rising almost instantly to success. A free order at Starbuck's if the drive-through service takes too long. Instant food and almost instant stomach aches. In general, we've been geared up to get what we expect and expect it quickly.

 Waiting is hard.

 But God leads us in a good way. He says, be patient, wait upon Me. Let Me bring you through the process and as you endure to the end, you will become what I want you to be; a model of my glory. Jesus prayed that the glory He had would be given to us. But there is a process behind becoming a container of that glory. A process that takes time. And sometimes we find ourselves becoming impatient with ourselves.

 When God is silent, waiting is hard.
When the dullness of life lays on us like a wet beach towel, waiting is hard.
When our efforts seem to yield little, waiting is hard.
When someone we love is suffering , waiting is hard.
When God's promises seem delayed, waiting is hard.

 Sometimes it can seem that life is one big wait. We wait to find that someone special and wait to marry them. We wait for that career that results from waiting to graduate college. We wait to retire. We wait and we wait and we wait.

 But God says, wait upon Me. Hope in me. And that's where we gain strength in our waiting, because ultimately all waiting is based in hope. And hope outside of God is wasted waiting. So, as you wait, wait for the Lord. He is good and His plans for you are good. And know, eventually all your waiting will be over and the ultimate destination will finally arrive.

  (Paintings by Audrey Furcinitti)

Comments

  1. UnknownJune 5, 2014 at 7:20 AM

    Joe - So true that we live in an age of "entitlement."
    I think, sometimes, that the waiting is designed to pull the idolatry of self out of us, and redirect our eyes onto Him!

    ReplyDelete

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