The Wonders of Waiting

God’s timing is perfect. We have all heard that but what does it really mean?

We live in a microwave society where we rarely have to wait. Gone are the days when connecting to the internet meant being subjected to a sequence of bizarre sounds before being granted access. When you had to disconnect from the internet so your parents could use the phone. When writing letters to friends and family abroad was commonplace to avoid that dreaded overseas phone bill. I still remember waiting several weeks in anticipation of an airmail envelope, to learn about the happenings in my friends lives. Having to wait 3 months for films and music to be released in the UK after they had already been viewed and forgotten about in the US. Long gone are the days when texting was an exercise that resulted in strong thumbs because you had to press the same button repeatedly to type one word. Those who were fast at texting should have been awarded medals.

Now, fibre optic wifi is widespread and it does not serenade with alien sounds as an introductory theme song. I have the privilege of video calling my friends and family in Trinidad and Tobago, and accessing new music and tv shows in real time. Now I know I am definitely ageing myself with these references and most Gen Z’s will have to google what this entire introduction was even about. But in a world where watching anything longer than a 30 second clip can seem like a chore, I serve a God who still calls us to be patient, “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” Psalm 27:14

No matter how you grew up, I would hazard a guess that most people know what it feels like to wait on something that they have either been promised or have simply yearned for. Whether it’s a promotion at work, a car, a husband/wife, we have all craved something and had to wait for it. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” Proverbs 13:12 Why do we have to wait? Usually we allow the desire for whatever we are coveting, to impinge our ability to assess the reason impartially as to why we don’t have what we want. Whilst there may be many plausible factors that are out of our control, for just a moment, I would like to explore the possibility that we are simply not ready for what we want. That is probably not what anyone wants to hear when they are on the painstaking journey of endurance. Longing for something for a significant period of time, reading every book imaginable, listening to every podcast, watching every video that tells us what we want to hear won’t necessarily make us any more qualified.

We can convince ourselves of many theories, we can even scream and cry about it but that does not mean we are ready for it. I once heard someone say, “God in his kindness does not give us what we are not ready for,” and it resonated with me because it is a possibility we seldom explore. We want what we want, when we want it but God exists out of the realm of space and time and can therefore see scenarios through time, circumstances and variables all at once. What if the apparent delay to assignment is actually divine alignment? “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11

In its time. Such a poignant yet simple statement. So how should we wait? Well we have a myriad of options, we can spend the time on an emotional rollercoaster, the ride becoming increasingly more intense as the journey continues. We can grumble like the Israelites in the desert when Moses brought them out of Egypt. Or we can use our waiting period as a time for preparation, a time to seek God and lean into what he is revealing to us about ourselves while we wait. He may be cultivating patience in us. We may not yet possess the character to sustain what we desire so badly. We may have made the career, the money, the wife or husband we have been lusting over, an idol. When that happens, faith can become performative and reward driven like the prodigal son’s brother.

In our time of waiting we have a unique opportunity to work on ourselves and grow our character. Don’t automatically think a delay is a denial. Although the title is oxymoronic because let’s face it, most people don’t enjoy waiting. If we shift our focus to the present and investigate what God is showing us and growing in us, it might actually be wonderful.