What are You Waiting For?

My daughter picked up her phone and noticed this ridiculous message, “iphone is disabled. Try again in 23,117,684 minutes.” That translates into 385,295 hours or 16,053 days. Better said, it translates to nearly 44 years. That’s a long time to wait for her iphone to work again!

During this thing we do called LIFE, there are times when we have to wait.

One problem–we don’t want to. We want our HOV lanes wider, our customer service immediate, our results quick and our fast food fast. So, when we happen upon periods where we have to wait, we can watch our hem come undone.

No one can escape seasons of waiting.

Throughout my lifetime, I’ve encountered many. Waiting to graduate from high school, waiting to hear if I got the job, waiting to get married, waiting for news from the doctor, and many more. What are you waiting for? Today, I sit and ponder, how much longer till my son comes home? While he plays in the sandbox in his orphanage, my heart aches to bring him near. I long to kiss him good morning and tuck him into bed. I pray for his paperwork to proceed rapidly through the Haitian courts. However, the length of this wait is completely out of my control.

“Waiting on God requires the willingness to bear uncertainty, to carry within oneself the unanswered question, lifting the heart to God about it whenever it intrudes upon one’s thoughts.” 
― Elisabeth Elliot

It’s easy to give up on God during the wait. When we don’t see immediate results, we tend to think He’s hung up the phone. Maybe He’s preoccupied with other people’s problems. Or worse, He’s completely forgotten about lil’ ol me. Our faith is challenged during seasons of wait. Will we trust our emotions or God’s Word as truth? My emotions tell me to become anxious, worried and to take matters into my own hands. God’s Word tells me to put my hope in the Lord, be patient and to persevere. David, a man after God’s own heart, also felt abandoned by God.

“Why, LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” Psalm 10:1

God is always at work, even when I cannot see. He does not sleep nor slumber. He does not forget. He is doing something bigger than I can imagine. He is shaping me into His image. He is producing fine gold while I wait.

“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” Job 23:8-10

It is a challenge to trust God over my emotions.

At times, my emotions seem more tangible and real. Remember, circumstances do not change the character of God. To combat my emotions, I recount God’s Word as truth. I recall how He has been faithful in the past. I remind myself that I am not God and don’t always understand what is best for me. And, I rejoice that He is coming back for me…and one day, I will no longer have to wait.