Waiting is hard. I go through times where I’m content where we are, and then I go through times that I just want to know if the answer is yes or no because it’s easier than waiting.
I’ve been feeling like we’re in a transition stage of our lives for a while now. We’re waiting for the next chapter to begin, not really knowing what it will be. And so my emotional pendulum swings back and forth, I’m content, I just want to know what’s going on, and back and forth it goes.
At the beginning of October, I went on a Woman’s Retreat with my church, and during it I went to a breakout session on Waiting. Our teacher gave us an acronym for WAIT that I’m going to share with you. I think I’d been doing some of these things, without really realizing what I was doing. These are things we can do as we wait: and active waiting, instead of passively watching as life happens to us. We can control our attitude in our circumstances, even if we can’t control the circumstances themselves.
Worship- Remembering who God is and praising him for what he’s done, instead of Worrying about your situation not working right.
Appreciation- having an attitude of gratitude, instead of getting Angry because of things not going the way we’d hoped.
Intercede-Praying for others, especially those who may have made you feel Insulted in the situation you now face.
Trust- Trusting God, not in a desired outcome, but that the LORD is walking with you in this circumstance, can help keep you from feeling Troubled in that circumstance.
I’ve been struggling with trusting God’s timing. Recently I’ve really just wanted to be done waiting and be able to move on toward whatever it is we’ll be doing. I’d been getting impatient, not knowing what will be happening. It didn’t matter what the answer was to me, as long as I didn’t have to wait anymore. But when I tought about it, I realized that my impatience was saying that I don’t really trust God; I want things my way, right now.
Waiting is not just about what I get at the end of the wait, but about who I become as I wait.
Paul Tripp
I’ve been talking to God, and to others who have been in times of waiting recently as well. I’m realizing that God has a perfect timing worked out, we just need to trust him and lay the situation at his feet. I want it all worked out now so that I can see it. He says, “I’ve got it worked out, just trust me and let me lead you.”
This past weekend I’ve come to a place of contentment again. We could just wait another day to know, or we could be waiting until next year… and at this time, I’m ok with that. I may struggle again in that time, but I believe these struggles in the wait are being used to bring me closer to God.
