waiting

Waiting. 

If God has ever tried to teach me anything it’s learning how to wait. I obviously have not grasped the concept because I’m still waiting. I can’t even begin to tell you the things that I have waited on or the things that I am still waiting on. But I can tell you what God has taught me in the times I have waited. It’s a lot. Probably the reason I’m still waiting.

Patience. Let’s be honest… we all hate this word. In elementary, I remember one of my Sunday school teachers always saying, “Patience is a virtue.” Now I just say it in mockery because no one really loves being patient. To me and probably most of you, being patient means waiting. Like sitting in a cold white waiting room at the doctor’s office in the middle of flu season while a baby cries and the person next to you continues to cough waiting. It’s the 21^st century. Everything is at the tip of our fingers. We hardly must wait for anything anymore. Food, communication, you name it, it is there in an instant. We’ve been spoiled so the thought of being patient doesn’t settle well. A few months ago, I was waiting for a new job. I didn’t know where this job would be, what it would be, or even if I would get a new job. I only knew that I needed one and I needed it fast. I applied to so many places and went to so many interviews. Some of the jobs I interviewed for, I received offers and some that I applied for I received the standard “We think your great but just not great for us” reply back. Even with the offers, none of them were what I needed. I needed decent pay with benefits and somewhere I didn’t have to drive two hours in order to get there. None of them were going to work out. There were a couple that I wanted so badly and I was convinced that I would get them. I could already picture myself on the first day walking into my new job with coffee in hand and a new outfit ready to face the day. Then I’d get a phone call saying that there was absolutely nothing I did wrong that they just had someone else interview that had a year more of experience. Those were the hardest phone calls. I mean what was wrong with me? I killed the interview. I answered all their questions. I was polite. I dressed the part. I had a killer cover letter. I even had experience.  I cried out desperate to God each night begging for a good opportunity to come up. At one point, I would pretty much take anything. I was to the point that I would settle for lower pay and no benefits just so I wouldn’t be without a job. My prayers kept coming up short of being answered how and when I thought they should be. Or at least that’s what I thought. I was at our church in Shreveport, Word of God Ministries, when I finally realized what God was teaching me during this time. Have you ever been sitting in church and feel like the preacher is speaking to no one else in the room but you? That was me. The topic was patience. When our pastor walked on stage, and the word patient came up on the screen I was just like really God? That’s what the topic is going to be? I can only be so patient when I don’t have a job! Whatever. I’m here. If that’s how it’s going to be then so be it. Fourty-five minutes later I had a completely different attitude. Our pastor spoke about what true biblical patience is. You see patience is not the act of waiting. It is completely different. It is about what you are doing while your waiting. God sometimes needs us to wait. Maybe the perfect house you are needing for your family hasn’t become available because the people in that house haven’t found a job in their new city yet. Maybe you haven’t found a job because the person in the position you are to have hasn’t left yet. In that time of waiting we aren’t to be still. We are to keep pushing and keep being disciplined. In Hebrews 12:11 it says “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” God wants to see that we have faith during our time of waiting. That whatever we are waiting on will come to pass in some way if it is following what God desires. For me, this meant to keep filling out applications. Keep going to interviews. Keep writing cover letters. And most importantly to keep praying and trusting that God would put me in the exact place at the exact time in order to fulfill His will. I had to stay disciplined even when I felt that if I filled out one more application that I might scream because eventually my time would come. And guess what… three months later God placed me exactly where He wanted me. I honestly didn’t even realize it was happening and that it was where He wanted me until about a month after I had been at my job. I look back now and learned so much about being patient. I still don’t love patience or waiting, but I have a different outlook on it now. If God gave us everything, we wanted at an instant we would probably take advantage of it. I know I would. That’s not what He wants. He wants to build a relationship with us. He wants to teach us and love us. He uses patience to do this. Now, I don’t say all of this to say that everything we are waiting on will eventually happen if we are being patient. No not at all. But it does mean that no matter what, God’s plan is good and that He can teach us things even if the waiting doesn’t turn out the way we planned. If you are waiting for something, don’t just wait. Practice patience. What are things that you can do to show God that you trust Him and you trust His plan?

Timing. This is something I’m still working on. I struggle a lot with God’s timing. His timing doesn’t always line up with what I think my timing should be. In all honesty, there are lots of times I don’t want to wait for God’s timing.  I want things to happen when I think they should happen, but God has a different plan. In case you didn’t know this already, I am a single girl with no children. I have a long-term boyfriend, but we aren’t engaged or married, and we don’t have any kids. I have four best friends that I graduated high school with. We’ve all four been friends since kindergarten. We’ve experienced so much together. As of last year, they are all married and three of the four have children. Obviously, God’s timing for me is a little different than the timing He has for them. And that’s ok! Say it with me…”It is ok to not be married with children at the age of twenty-five!” Is it frustrating sometimes…YES! Do I question things a lot…YES! Do I get asked every time I walk out of the house “when is going to propose?”….YES! But in the end, I know God has planned the perfect time for when I am to get engaged, married, and have kids. At least if that is His will for my life. (Let’s hope so. Ha!) In Ecclesiastes 3:1 it says that there is a season for everything and a time for every purpose under Heaven. God has me in this season and that is where He wants me. He has a specific time in my life for another season. He has a purpose for this timing and this season of life. It doesn’t mean it isn’t hard. There are days where I’m so over seeing another person get engaged, or attending another wedding, or going to another baby shower or being a brides-maid. It can be exhausting. There are times when I question God’s timing. I mean why pick me to be the one who has to wait for all of these things? I feel like I’m ready. But I am put in this season for a purpose. He knows the exact timing that all the these events in my life should take place. God is always right on time. He’s never late and He’s never too early. We just have to trust in it. To help me with this battle I try to stop and think of the things that I wouldn’t get to experience if it wasn’t for His timing. Because I don’t have children, I am able to travel a lot. I can pick up and go pretty much anytime I want. I get to enjoy coming home and watching what I want to on TV. Since I’m not married, I’m learning to live on my own and support myself well. I’m also learning to see myself as Christ sees me. In this time of waiting God has also placed another friend in my life. She is not married, nor does she have children. God’s timing was perfect for our friendship because we are in similar stages in life and can support and grow with each other. I also have had so much fun watching my friends get married and raise their kids. I love being MayMay to their children and loving on their babies. I get so much advice from them. I look up to each one of them and their families. They are teaching me so much and I know that when it’s my time to enjoy these things that I will be able to apply all that I have learned.

Married, Single, One Child, Two children, One child and one on the way!

So, if you’re stuck waiting for something I want to challenge you. First, I want to challenge you to give it to God. Whatever you’re waiting for surrender it to God. Trust that His plan is good. I have to wake up every morning and tell God that whatever I am waiting on is His and that He is in control. I do this every morning because by the end of the day I’m usually trying to take it back. Ha! But seriously, give it to Him and allow Him to work in your life. Second, I want to challenge you to seek out what God may be teaching you in this time of waiting. Dig into His word. Be still and just listen to Him. He might reveal something that you are really needing in your life. And third, I challenge you to practice patience and discipline in your time of waiting. Keep pushing toward what you are waiting for. Don’t give up! You may be one more application from getting that job, one more click from finding the perfect house, or one more talk with Jesus from an answered prayer. Show God that your willing to put in the work because you have faith that He will provide. Even if what you're waiting for doesn't come to pass you can always look back and know that God was in control and that you grew closer to Him. I’d love to know what you might be waiting for so that I could pray for you in this time! Feel free to leave a comment or message me about your season of waiting. God is good and His plan for your life is so worth waiting for!