in the waiting ⌛

 

doesn't it feel like our life is a series of moments in waiting?

when you're a kid, you wait for christmas morning. then, count down the days until spring break, and finally summer vacation. 

when you get to jr. hi, you're praying it will pass quickly so you'll be in high school. when you can drive, go on dates, attend dances with your friends. 

when you're in high school, you wish your days away wanting to be in college, so you can move to another state and experience a little bit of life on your own. 

as much as you enjoy college, you pray for the years to go by quick so you can land the dream job, meet the right person and make more money. 

then, you dream of settling down and wearing the white dress down the aisle, marrying the person you've always dreamed of. and having the kids with the wraparound porch and the white picket fence. 

but, there's a strange shift that happens once you get into your career. 

your life never stops going through phases or seasons. you never stop wishing, praying or wanting. just as you achieve one goal, you're onto the next one.

you never stop waiting. 

waiting for the test results on your lab work to come in.

waiting for your adoption to go through. 

waiting to meet the right person and spend forever with them. 

waiting for the lines on the pregnancy test to say that your life is about to change. 

waiting for the call to find out if you got another interview for the job. 

waiting for the house deal to close for you to be able to call it home. 

waiting on the Lord is the key phrase here. we can wait on circumstances that might never change, but when we shift our gaze to Him, it reminds us that HE is in control and we are not. if we are walking in the will of God, we are trusting that His plans and timing are perfect. 

one of the biggest challenges is that God's timing and schedule is not within our own ideas of time. 

the new testament talks about kairos, which literally means "the appointed time in the purpose of God," — the time when God acts. it refers to a qualitative period of time; a moment or season when God and His purposes intersect with His people. 

God's timing — His literal concept of time is on a different wavelength than ours. He is outside of time and space. His mind doesn't think in terms the same way that humans do. 

2 Peter 3:8-9 says, "but do not forget this one thing, dear friends: with the Lord, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. the Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

God makes good on His promises. it just might not look like how we thought, which is usually the disconnect. 

we pray for a certain thing on our hearts, with this clear, humanly vision of what it should be. whether that's who our future husband (or wife) is going to be. how we'll heal from the diagnosis or ailment we're experiencing. how we'll get out of financial distress...you get the idea. 

and so, this kind of trust takes an advanced level amount of trust in God, His ways and His ultimate plan. even when we don't understand a thing of what's happening along the way. 

as i've waited for the dreams of moving to nashville, dreams of meeting my significant other, or whatever else has been planted on my heart for that season, the song "take courage" from bethel music has become a prayer off and on throughout the years. 

the older i get, the more i learn that i don't have all the answers. and that i need Jesus more than ever. 

no, it's not a magical answer to everything. in some cases, it might feel harder, going down a path that seems to be met with more resistance. but, it's worth it in the end. we know we always have the promise that God will never leave us - He walks alongside us in our trials. we don't have to figure them out on our own. 

-Shelby