Work the Wait
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When will I get my turn to hang a white dress in my closet?" I mumbled as I hung up my fourth bridesmaid dress last summer. A single 29-year-old, I'd watched friend after friend join the ranks of "Mrs."; I couldn't help but wonder, How much longer, God?
As I contemplated my life's many delays, I realized I don't like waiting—and I'm not very good at it. But I wanted to grow during my waiting seasons rather than become bitter or lose faith. So I asked God to show me how he's working through these divine delays.
Reminders of Redemption
Sometimes, a wait seems to have no apparent reason. The delay is simply the product of a sin-ravaged world.
My friend Tiffanie, after finishing grad school, spent months searching for a job. As leads failed to pan out into paychecks, she became discouraged.
Yet, much to my admiration, Tiffanie refused to anesthetize the waiting ache. For three months, she fasted from TV because she believed God had "given me the time (whether I asked for it or not) to reflect on what I have and where I'm headed."
Throughout those agonizing months, God showed up in ways more profound than a job offer. She was looking for a way to support herself; God taught her a new level of dependence on him. She was desperately waiting for a potential employer's phone call; instead, God spoke into her soul's quiet places. She was searching for a genie-god to provide instantly for her needs; God blew her away by revealing he's much better and bigger than she'd ever dreamed.
Eventually, Tiffanie landed a job, and she was grateful for the answered prayer. But she was even more grateful to learn God meets us through the waiting journey in ways beyond those originally asked or imagined. And he lovingly reminds us he can redeem any situation.
The Timing of Trust
Strangely, it's in the bleakest waiting moments that God's intervention manifests itself most clearly. Sometimes, those miracles are glamorous. We receive the perfect job, the physical healing, the necessary funds—and the wait is over.
But other times, God does the miracle in us.
Not long ago, as I was sitting down to dinner with my parents, they received a phone call from a hospital: "Your son's been in an accident. … Can't give details. … Come as soon as you can. … " In a trance, I stumbled to the car with my parents and sister. Those two hours on the way to the hospital were the longest of my life. I wish my immediate reaction had been peace, communion with God, or some other super-spiritual phenomenon. But the feeling in my gut was more like numbness and nausea. My mind churned with questions: Is he going to survive? Will he walk again? Waiting for details unknown and out of my control was terrifying.
Originally published in: Today's Christian Woman, 2008, July/August, Vol. 30, Issue 4, Page 22
Related Topics:
Compassion, Redemption, Singleness, Trust, Waiting
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Mary Brown(Registered User)
Thanks, Stephanie. All these comments from a couple of years ago make me wonder where they are now... I was very frustrated at a past time when my daughter was staying at my house waiting for her next phase of life to happen. Now I am in an in between place--for over a year--and find myself doing the same kinds of not much. I want to wait well, but am struggling with letting God have complete control over me and my depression and time wasting habits. I trust God to do what's best for my family and take care of our finances, even in these "tough economic times." God isn't dependent on the economy, and my attitude and mood shouldn't be, either. My husband needs me to be present and functional, and with God's help I can be. "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." Pray for me and others like me for God to show us how to "wait well," doing what he's got for us in this time, as well as looking forward to what's coming in his time.
pat
I too was just like this writer, always wanted to be married and have kids, use to daydream about it too. But along the way I got into relationships that were not good for me, the last one was a big eye opener as I could have ended up dead but thanks to God he gave me the strength I needed to physical fight him back and live. This for me made me questioned the decisions I made regarding the relationships I got into, only to realize with the help of God that I was looking for my earthly father's love in these relationships. Suffice it to say I told God I would wait until he puts the right person in my life and use that time to get to know myself better and know God beyond being my savior but as my heavenly father, friend, provider, healer etc. God did put the right person in my life, at a time when I least expected it to happened, and this coming July will be celebrating our 7th year of marriage and I have two beautiful kids a daughter and a son. God knows whats best for us!! Trust Him.
Mary T.
Terrific. It almost always happens this way. God's time is not the same as ours.
sam
great article it doesnt denies the tough realities of life but profoundly makes clear that the enchanting presence of god can cover, edify and teach vital lessons through these periods of waiting that god graciously shedules for our growth and nourishment as a christian.
Barbara
I was 29 and still waiting so I gave the guy I was dating an ultimatum since he was 30 and we had been dating for 2 1/2 years. At 1 1/2 years of dating I had asked him where we were going with our relationship and he said he didn't love me. So, I broke up with him but we worked in the same company and he found out I was dating someone else so he'd show up at my place after I came home from a date. I took this as his interest in me. I told him I would be 29 on the next birthday and if he wanted to continue to see me, he had to decide. We invited both parents to my place for dinner. He never showed up. He came later that night and 'told me to look for a ring' and that was his proposal. Well, I married him and 22 years later we are divorced. Physical, emotional and verbal abuse took its toll. So, don't marry someone just to be married. It's not worth it. I couldn't have children, guess God was looking out for them. So in middle age I'm back to square one. Don't marry just to do it.
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