Waiting

During the past few weeks, you've probably all done your fair share of waiting. There is a lot of waiting built into our daily lives. There are things like waiting in line, waiting at a red light, or waiting on your food to be done cooking. As most of you know, locally we just got 2 big winter storms back-to-back. And we don't get a lot of snow and ice here, so when it does happen there's normally waiting involved somehow - waiting for snow to arrive (or maybe waiting for it to melt). Waiting to see if an event will be cancelled due to the weather. Waiting for the roads to be drivable. Waiting for schools to open back up. Waiting for warmer weather. I’m sure you can think of more examples too. The point is - we have all experienced waiting.

A phrase that I have unintentionally taught my daughters is “waiting is hard”. It wasn't a conscious decision to teach them that phrase, it just kind of happened and now it's something that is repeated quite a bit in our house. Most of the time it's repeated through tears when they have to wait longer than they were prepared to wait. Because waiting isn't always easy. And it’s normally not very fun. I'm sure you'd probably agree. Waiting IS hard. Although as adults we understand that hard isn't always bad. Growth can come during seasons of waiting. We can learn new things while we wait. Waiting might be inconvenient, but it’s not inherently bad.

I'm sure most of you know that I am currently pregnant. For me, this is a season of waiting. Don't get me wrong, I have plenty to do, my plate is very full right now! But we are still waiting. Waiting for this baby girl to join us. Pregnancy is simultaneously the longest and shortest 9 months of my life. Every day can seem like it takes forever, but in the same breath she will somehow be here next month! Something I've learned is that waiting does not have to be passive. For this pregnancy, it means I need to get things ready (like the still unfinished nursery & the fact we still haven't decided on a name for her). But I can prepare while I wait. Just like we can buy groceries while waiting for snow to arrive. Or we can shovel driveways while we wait for snow to melt. We can prepare while we wait. The same is true in our walk with God. Waiting does not have to be passive. It doesn't mean sitting and not acting. If we are waiting for direction from God, we can still do something. We can act. We can prepare for expected tasks. Or continue learning and growing in Christ through reading and studying the Bible. We can pray and listen. We can have hope. We can trust in God’s character and goodness. Knowing that His timing is better than ours. Even when we don’t understand it.

Psalm 130:5-7 says:

‭‭I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 

my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.

These verses are meaningful to me for many reasons. But right now I want to talk about “when watchmen wait for the morning”. The Psalmist says that his soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning. Watchmen don’t wonder if the morning is coming - there’s no doubt or insecurities about if the morning will come. They know morning is coming. It’s just a matter of when. Even if we are certain something will happen, ultimately it is God who is in control of when it happens. Even for something as certain as the rising of the sun. Of course morning would still come even if the watchmen weren’t doing their jobs - if they were sleeping or just not doing their duties. But when we wait actively and expectantly we won’t miss the actual coming of the morning. We will be able to see God work first-hand. So if you, like me, are in a season of waiting - let’s actively wait together. Learning, growing, and waiting.