Waiting…patiently…
All the store’s check-out lines were a few people deep, and I’m standing in the back of one, patiently waiting my turn. This particular store has no self-checkout registers. There was literally nothing I could do but wait. And that was fine. I wasn’t in a hurry, and I didn’t mind waiting. I was about 7 or 8 months pregnant with my oldest son at the time, so it was just me and my basket of groceries. There was no baby to shush and keep quiet; no toddler to keep from running through the store; no big kid touching every tempting goodie surrounding the front isles and asking question after question about what else we can buy, where we’re going next, and what’s for lunch.
I was perfectly content, standing in peace and waiting in line, when two elderly women in the line next to me look over my way and intentionally start speaking loud enough for me to hear, “Oh, well this is good practice for her! She’s going to need a lot of patience!”
I laughed and nodded along with them, as they winked at me and chuckled at my pregnant state. It was a completely pleasant interaction, but in my head, I was like, “Seriously? I’m just standing here! Quietly. I’m not grumbling or complaining. I’m not anxious or annoyed. I’m already patient!”
Five kids later, and patience is always in demand. No matter how much patience I think I have, I always seem to need more. I think in any stage of life, patience is in high demand more often than not. Because who likes waiting? Especially in our culture. We hate it. We want to know answers and see the full picture. We want instant gratification and assurances. And despite having over three decades of practice, I still find myself learning to be patient in a season of waiting. “Practice makes perfect” just doesn’t seem to apply here.
While often times there’s much to be done in the midst of waiting, whether we’re waiting for a significant event or confirmation of a particular path or just to enter a new season of life, sometimes all we can do is wait. Sometimes we’ve done everything we can, and the rest is completely out of our hands. And where we find ourselves is in a constant state of surrender. Or at least we should.
This is where it’s hard to stay patient. I don’t know about you, but I want to get busy figuring out how to make whatever I’m waiting for happen faster. I want a shortcut. Or - I want to work on something else entirely. I want a distraction. I want to make other plans. I want to change courses altogether and forsake what I’m waiting for. Not because God told me to or gave me any sort of peace within that regard, but simply because I don’t want to wait anymore. Forget the groceries; I’ll figure out how to make do without.
This is not patience.
Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”
Wait. Surrender. Be strong. Not in our strength, though. According to Ephesians 6:10, we are to “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”
Take heart. Not in ourselves, but take comfort and confidence in the Lord. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). Our understanding is fallible and indubitably limited. But God is always working on our behalf; He is always worthy of our trust.
So, we wait. Patiently. We surrender through prayer what we cannot control – life’s uncertainties, the outcomes of our obedience – and because we can trust God, we get to be still and rest in our waiting.
Ann Voskamp says everything far more eloquently than I ever could:
“Waiting is just a gift of time in disguise
– a time to pray wrapped up in a ribbon of patience –
because is the Lord ever late?”
