Things to Do While You’re Waiting

If there is one thing people in our generation hate to do, it is to wait. And why should we? We can Google questions rather than wait for an answer. We can order shoes online rather than suffering the long weekend lines at the retail store. We can even book reservations ahead of time rather than waiting for a table at our favorite establishment.

Photo courtesy of ©iStockphoto.com/dra_schwartz

But God doesn’t operate any faster in the twenty-first century than He did in the first. And so while we rush ourselves, we can’t rush God. In fact, much of life is spent waiting.

• Waiting for a response to a book proposal
• Waiting to hear from a potential employer
• Waiting for a medical diagnosis

While our natural inclination is to hate waiting, this period of uncertainty can actually be a time of great personal growth. Here is are three lessons I learned in the “Waiting Room” of life:

1. Recognize that God is in control, even when it seems He has forgotten you. I love the words to the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk:
   

   "Look around at the nations; look and be amazed! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it”

   Often when it seems nothing is happening is when everything is happening behind the scenes. You just can’t see it.
   For a few years, I felt At times I grew restless and wondered if I had fallen into some kind of Godless abyss. What I didn’t see was the circumstances God had to work out in order to put me where I am today..
   The machinery of God’s sovereignty was at work, unknown to me.
   
2. Renew your faith in God’s quiet and steady providence. A few years ago, To quell my anxiety, I did a study on waiting in the Scriptures. I was amazed to find that every major figure was forced to wait long periods of time before God brought them to a place of success.
   Waiting is not incidental to faith. Waiting is the DNA of faith.
   
3. Redeem your time in the waiting room of life. A few years ago, I was forced to read three-year old magazines with outdated information. I hated that. We often do that in our own waiting periods. So anxious are we for that “next step,” we languish in despair. But, “let patience have her perfect work.”
   
   Times of uncertainty and doubt are useful periods in which we can draw into God, nurture our skills and prepare for the time when that big promotion comes.
   
   • A single man or woman should ready him or herself for marriage while he is single by reading good relationship books.
   • A future employee can get a leg-up on the position he covets by taking a few extra college classes or reading important books on leadership.
   • A writer might continue to hone his craft while he’s waiting the big contract.

View your time in the Waiting Room as a season of growth and development and you’ll find you’ll be that much more ready for your moment on the stage.

A final thought: Waiting for answers can be one of the most grueling seasons of life, but with the proper perspective, you may look back as you’re most formative.

Posted in: DNA,faith,God,thought,waiting