Waiting for God

We're constantly told as Christians to wait on God's timing, to trust Him, He's never late.....and all this is true. However, God's not early either, He's always just on time. My patience is something I'm always needing to work on as I don't like waiting, and even if something's on time it can still mean a wait.

I'm ever perplexed by God's timing. The church wasn't 'born' til 50 days after the ascension! Fifty days is a long time when you're waiting on God and you're not really sure what is coming next and the world is looking at you pointing fingers, and claiming your Messiah wasn't really Who He said He was. The disciples didn't know what exactly was going to happen on the day of Pentecost, they just had to wait and I bet those 50 days felt like 50 years.

So many people in the bible had huge waits - much longer than 50 days too! Noah had around 120 years forewarning of the flood; Abraham waited around 25 years for his promised heir; Moses had a huge wait....he waited 40 years to lead the Israelites out of Egypt - in fact he was a whopping 80 yrs old and just starting an epic adventure as an old man; Paul had 14 years after his dramatic conversion on the Road to Damascus to his first Missionary journey. Don't even get me started on Joseph! David waited years after his annointing by Samuel until he took the throne. Jesus also waited until He was around 30 years old until He started His public ministry.

Why does God wait? More importantly, what happens in this time, what is God doing?

I believe He isn't idly sitting around or forgetting about us. He's preparing us, He's building us up, but He doesn't rush because ultimately there is a perfect time for things, and we can't see that, but He can. The Holy Spirit came upon the disciples at Shavuot - Pentecost. The birth of the church was at a designated time and in the light of the Jewish Feasts and their significance on creation's time frame, it is highly significant that the church was born on this day.

If things are happening quickly in our lives - because of course, not everything takes a long time - I often think it's like we're in the pressure cooker. The job gets done quicker, but there is some pressure and heat during the process. However, when we're in the other camp, it's like we're in slow cookers so to speak, bubbling away slowly, He's tenderising the meat, cultivating the flavours of patience, endurance, compassion and love.

A long wait often means the lessons learnt during the wait are essential to the plan He has ahead for us. So the wait may depend partly on us and our willingness to be prepared and moulded.

I spend a lot of my life waiting. Not for just for God to move - just waiting in general. Waiting in queues, waiting in traffic jams, waiting for food to cook, waiting in for deliveries, waiting for children (to get dressed, eat, or basically do anything they are asked to do!)....and the list goes on.
But whatever we're waiting for, we are telling a story: our waiting is like a book telling others all about who we are. We radiate a very unique vibe when we're waiting, just take a look at your neighbouring drivers in a long traffic jam! We can wait well or we can be impatient, angry, frustrated waiters. Now, I'm quite impatient in the car and I get seriously frustrated on the road. But I've started changing my car habits; now my traffic jams are an opportunity to pray or praise God. Ignorant drivers are a signal from heaven of someone to pray for and bless right there in the moment. When I'm waiting for God I want to be waiting well and I've realised that the waiting I show in my book when I'm waiting on God speaks volumes.

As I look at my heroes in the faith for some encouragement, I realise that the waiting - even though sometimes very long - does not necessarily equal wilderness. David was annointed as king many years before he took the throne, yet the years he spent waiting drew him so close to God. Abraham spent years waiting for his heir, yet again so close to God had he become, and so firm his trust in Him that at the Akedah, he gave his own son into God's hand. The very son he'd waited many years for.

If you're waiting on God for a fulfilment of a promise or the answer to prayer, take a new view on the situation. A new perspective will turn the wait into a breath of fresh air. The waiting is not designed as a wilderness. It may feel dry and arid at times, but the waiting is a time of growth; a courting and a wooing by God; a time to rest entirely on Him; a time to learn to trust Him even more than before and become more intimate with Him, and to cultivate the characteristics to take on the next step in God's plan for our lives.