Living in the Waiting

How often do we get caught up in the process of waiting?

Maybe you're single and there just never seems to be the right guy or girl for you? Maybe you're out of a job and for some reason there just doesn't seem to be any doors opening and you're wondering where God is?

Whatever the situation, waiting is never fun. It often brings out the worst in us, because we are very impatient people. We live in a culture where everything is instant. Forget CD's and DVD's, we can now download anything onto our phones. We have access to so many different resources and when something isn't quick and easy to find we can easily find ourselves giving up.

I am sure everyone has found themselves in this situation before, when you're standing in public alone waiting for your friend in the dressing room or for your online order at Chipotle to be finished and you're standing there not quite sure of your place. You're scrolling through Instagram on your phone (avoiding eye contact, just me?) and for the first time in forever there's nothing new. So you just keep refreshing the page over and over, hoping for a new post to show up. It's so easy for us to then get really frustrated with what's taking so long.

How often do we get so caught up in refreshing our feed that we forget to refresh our life?

Do you ever find yourself waiting for God to do something in your life? Maybe you're waiting for God to bring a guy into your life and you're questioning your worth when that guy you really like doesn't seem to reciprocate the same feelings. Maybe you've brought in your eighth job application and there still isn't a reply. Whatever it is, you're feeling like God is absent.

You pray but there just seems to be silence. You go to church but you leave feeling empty. This was me not too long ago. I was standing in church one Sunday and I felt completely lost. I was almost 20 years old, still single, had a few friends, and still lived at home. I felt like a failure and I was tired of God's silence. I was tired of waiting for God to do something in my life. I knew something needed to change, because God doesn't work in the stagnant he works in those who are out there working too.

I decided to begin investing in my time with Jesus. Within those first few days of waking up at 6am, so I could fit in time to spend with God (between juggling work and school) I found my answer. God had the answers for me, I just needed to be active in my faith. God isn't a God of silence. He had all of the answers I needed waiting in his Word. God isn't going to abandon you. In a way, I was abandoning God by not seeking Him. In Hebrews 2:1, we are told that "We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it."

Waiting can be hard, waiting is hard. But only if we sit still.

We are called to be lights, active in our faith.

One of my favorite analogies, from a sermon podcast by Breakaway Ministries. Ben Stewart was talking about the race of faith; we are running a race and the finish line is Heaven. This analogy was really impactful for me on how I need to actively pursue a relationship with Christ and in that pursuit He will provide for me all that I need. I need to train myself to run the race well, so I don't tire out and quit.

"I press on toward the goal

for the prize of the upward call of

God in Jesus Christ."

Philippians 3:14

Waiting can be a blessing. My greatest growth in my relationship with God has occurred while I was waiting. So I want to encourage you, don't let your season of waiting become a season of waste. Be fruitful, filling yourself with God's word.

Find yourself a community of believers that can help you grow. Something I hear all the time at my church is that "Growth happens best in community and not alone." That is one of the greatest gifts we have been given, fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. More than anything, trust God.

In a way I think we never are really waiting, we are just living and when God is giving in our lives it's another step on this race toward an eternity praising Jesus.