Have you been waiting for something for a long time? Is the weight of this burden beginning to crush you? What happens when waiting turns to weighting?
STUCK WAITING
Welcome to Mindful Monday, fellow travelers. Although I usually look forward to a new week with hope and anticipation, I have to be honest with you, I am stuck in a place of waiting, and it is wearing me down.
- I want answers.
- I need relief.
- I desire forward movement.
- I am desperate for something (anything!) to change.
Picture yourself wandering around the airport for a flight that never arrives. Idling at a stoplight that never turns green. Staring at your phone for a call that never comes.
Maybe you are stuck waiting for something today too.
WAITING VS. WEIGHTING
Did you catch my wordplay there? I believe there two basic kinds of waiting.
There is the waiting that involves checking our phone, tapping our feet, or watching the clock. This kind of waiting happens at the doctor’s office, in a line at the grocery store, or stuck in rush hour traffic. While we encounter these states of expectant readiness as part of our everyday lives, some of us handle them better than others!
But there is another waiting, isn’t there? I call it weighting because it is heavy, burdensome, and exhausting.
- Maybe you are depressed and waiting to find joy and purpose.
- Maybe you are without a job and are waiting to find work.
- Maybe you are sick and waiting for a diagnosis and treatment.
- Maybe you are a woman who wants a family and is waiting to get pregnant.
- Maybe you are single and waiting to find your soul mate.
- Maybe you are a parent of a prodigal waiting for him to come home.
- Maybe you are starting a new venture and waiting for the right doors to open.
Why is waiting so hard to do? Why do we resist it with every fiber of our bodies, minds, and souls?
Why does God tell us to wait? That it is good for us to wait?
And what can happen when we refuse to wait on God?
WHY WAITING IS HARD
The simple answer to why waiting is so difficult is that the heart wants what it wants and wants it now. Am I right?
We do not want to delay pleasure, struggle or suffer, or put in the extra time or effort.
How many of us find it hard to deal with the inconvenience of charging our phones or waiting for an internet connection? We can lose it completely over the smallest interruptions to our schedules and plans.
So it should come as no surprise that when waiting takes hours, days, even years, we lose hope, strength, and faith.
Like Sarah from the Old Testament, we take matters into our own hands and try to manipulate outcomes that align with our desires. Instead of waiting on God, we rush in and try to control the situation.
WHY GOD CALLS US TO WAIT
Throughout the Bible, we are called to “wait on the Lord.” Even though God promises to bless us for waiting, we have a hard time grasping this truth.
The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”
Lamentations 3:25-26 (ESV
While waiting, God expects us to seek him, cry out to him, and put our trust in him. The Psalms are full of examples of David waiting on the Lord in anguish and pain. The type of weighting depicted here is not pretty or easy but allows God to intervene on our behalf. While we wait, he provides protection and showers us with mercy and love lifting the burden of our weighting.
Here is just a portion of Psalm 40:1-3 (ESV). (Find time this week to read the whole chapter if you can.)
I waited patiently for the Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
and put their trust in him.“
God also asks us to wait on him to gain strength and courage; to allow Him to rescue and deliver us.
Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” Psalm 27:14 (ESV)
Psalm 27:14 (ESV)
..But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.“
Isaiah 40:31 (ESV)
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WAITING TURNS TO WEIGHTING
Even though we read those verses and even mentally agree that waiting on God can be a good thing, most of us find it hard to put it into practice.
When we refuse to wait, we are loaded down with the backbreaking burdens of weighting. We miss out on what God desires to give us because we are trying to carry too much on our own. We have no room for the three gifts God wants to give us while we learn to wait on him:
- PROVISION
- PATIENCE
- PEACE
1) WE MISS GOD’S PROVISION
When we refuse to wait on God, we are settling for the here and immediate now. We step in and try to take the driver’s wheel, believing that our doing accomplishes more than God can while we wait. Our arrogance fools us into thinking that we know the right path to take and the quickest way to get there. God wants to provide more than we can even hope for or imagine if we can wait on his timing.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. . .”
Ecclesiastes 3:11(ESV)
2) WE MISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP PATIENCE
The only way to develop patience is to practice waiting. I know you don’t want to hear that because neither do I! It is like muscle memory–the more you flex patience, the more patient you become. However, this kind of patience is usually forged in the crucible of pain, doubt, and suffering as the apostle Paul reminds us:
...troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience, in turn, forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next.”
Romans 5:3-4 (MSG)
3) WE MISS EXPERIENCING PEACE
God is always good and knows what is best for us. Do we trust him? When we get anxious and worry because we think he is not moving fast enough to fix our problems, we miss out on the peace his graciously grants while he provides and protects. Jesus never promises to remove the trials and sorrow that weighting in this world can bring–he does, however, promise to provide peace amid the chaos.
I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33 (NLT)
GOD IS GOOD TO THOSE WHO WAIT
So if you are impatient and restless on this Mindful Monday, take a moment to pause and remember that God is good to those who wait. Our waiting turns to weighting when we refuse to give our burdens to God and accept his provision, patience, and peace.
Listen to this song by Bethany Dillon to remind yourself that God can do more in your waiting than in your doing.
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“Hope delayed makes the heart sick” so says the man God said he is after his heart- Kind David.
It is not easy waiting. In fact waiting on God is easier said than done. But we have no choice than to wait. Imagine a single lady advancing in years still waiting on God for whom to marry. Such a lady knows she is close to menopause. Imagine a couple well striken in age with no children. Your mates have gone ahead of you maritaly, economically educationally among others and you are still waiting no thanks to the biblical verse that says we should not compare ourselves with others. Waiting on God is not easy thanks to God that says he won’t allow us to go through that which is too much for us to bear.
Kind David was aptly correct when he said hope delayed makes the heart sick. During period of waiting the devil suggests several thoughts and ideas into our minds. We need God’s grace to go through it. Afterall when we are waiting, we don’t know the mind of God in respect of the reason for the delay, what he has in stock for us that Is better than when we get it instantly. This topic you just shared I must confess is very abstract because only God knows why he is delaying a particular answer to a particular prayer or wish. Life becomes boring, we get bored, discouragement comes in among others. But we can’t go through it alone lest we stagger in faith and the devil takes advantage …….Waiting on God is not easyGod must go through it with us.
Thanks Carla for this eye opening write up. I bieve you have finally overcome the pains of the surgery you had sometimes ago. You are blessed.
Thank you so much for your kind and wise words. I always learn so much from your insightful comments! Yes, waiting on God can be so difficult and discouraging, but when He allows us to look back at His faithfulness, mercy, and provision, it is always worthwhile! Blessings to you my friend! May God be with you as you wait on Him!
Ayodeji,
What you said spoke directly to my soul. It IS hard…. very hard, to wait on God. I am one of the people you described in your post…still waiting. I love God with all of my heart, and would not trade my relationship with Him for anything, but sometimes the weight of waiting becomes too much to bear and you need encouragement from somebody else…. the hand of God to come from a human being…you did that. Thx for understanding the pain of waiting.
I am so thankful that this post spoke to you and provided you with some encouragement while you wait. God is faithful, and His timing is perfect, so I know He will answer you at the right time. Keep on keeping on, friend!
I too am in a season of waiting. I am going through a divorce. It’s not like other things that I signed up for. When I went back to school-I was given an end date. When I set goals for myself to accomplish–I set a date. And when I filed for divorce–you guessed it! I set a date that it would be done! That date came and went last October. Among the 2 of us, the 2 lawyers, the trouble “that man” (it’s what I call my husband when I’m angry & frustrated) has gotten us into with his buddies (5 of them) requiring MORE lawyers to handle THAT….NOTHING is moving. In my despair, I had NO CHOICE….well, I DID have a choice…and I chose to set my eyes on GOD and ASK–what is the purpose of all this waiting??? I HAVE to choose to HOPE that God has a better plan than what I had expected or else I’ll go crazy and cause a scene in public with “that man.” And so, I remember how patient I was to endure staying married, I look around for what MIGHT be the opportunity from God. Better relationship with my parents — who are a LITERAL GODSEND. Getting the support and help I need from my adult son who grew up under “than man’s” thumb, peace for my 11 yr. old and PRAISE that our house is back to being a peaceful HOME. The chaos is gone. My attorney is saying maybe January 2020. But I’m not going to count on it. “That man” will have consequences and I DON’T have to worry about that anymore and have left that to God. I THINK that’s called forgiveness, because there are A LOT of things that I just don’t care about anymore when it comes to my husband. I feel free from many things that made me bitter or jealous. And I THINK that’s forgiveness-the fact that I feel free.
Thank you for your post and THANK you for using examples that out of our control. Some advice people offer is contrite because there are things we can control, when things like wayward children are OUT of our control–that’s a whole different ball game when it comes to waiting.
Thanks for reaching out, Marisa! I so admire you for fixing your eyes on God and asking Him to guide you through this difficult time of waiting. Forgiveness is the key freedom…and it seems that God has already blessed you with the right perspective and attitude. I will continue to pray that God guides, blesses, and keeps you and your family as you wait on Him. He is good and faithful…and wants the very best for you!