In the Waiting

This morning, I woke up and found the house quiet, as it was still early so I began a bible study. Soon though, I heard rustling upstairs and knew my near 4 year old, Lilla, had risen and not far behind would be, Anna, my 1 year old.

As I hurried to conclude the study Anna began to fuss. Lilla then called down the stairs, “Mom, Anna is crying for you.” I responded that I had hear her and would be up shortly. A couple of minutes went by and Lilla said, “Moooommm, Anna wants you!” I told her I was aware and was just finishing up something. She then replied, “Mom, are you trying to torture Anna?”

Of course, I was not trying to torture her and knew she was nothing but safe in her crib with all the toys and things to do. It was even clearer as I walked in her room shortly after and she gave me the brightest of smiles and a giggle for a greeting. She just did not want to wait.

As I reflect on that experience I think of my own issues with waiting. How life just seems like a continual wait, waiting to graduate, waiting find a job, waiting for a spouse, waiting for a baby, waiting for the dr., waiting for the check out line, on and on it goes.

So, just one more thing to wait for does not appeal to me. Particularly when it has to do with God, the waiting is hard. I know he is sovereign and can make the mountains move, so why should I have to spend years paying off student loans, couldn’t he just drop a bank in my backyard? Or pondering our future, where we should go and what job to take. It says in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you.” So maybe could he just whisper them in my ear so I could know them too? Like maybe today?

God does not work that way though. No, he often works through us and to us through the waiting. While I’m screaming, “God, are you trying to torture me?” He, of course, is not. He is loving and shaping me through that wait, teaching me the importance of patience, His will and unselfishness, as I think of other’s needs before mine being met.

I hope that, perhaps, you also can see God in the waiting today.