Isn't Waiting Just a Waste of Time?
Dear Friends
I don't know anyone who really enjoys waiting, I know I don't! Whether it's waiting in the queue at the supermarket, sitting in the waiting room to see the Doctor, waiting for test results, or waiting for your birthday or a family holiday. Waiting just seems such a waste of time, doesn't it? Time that we could spend doing something else, something more productive, and we fuss and fume over the wasted time that we will never get back.
I've been thinking about last week's blog and it led to thoughts on how God often asks us to "wait" or says "not yet" to something we long for. We can read of many instances in the bible when God tells a person to wait.
It seems to me that God is asking that I wait for his timing, so how do I make the most of this waiting time so that it's not a wasted time?
I think there are two kinds of waiting, passive waiting and active waiting. Passive waiting means I sit around, twiddling my thumbs, waiting for something to happen, just waiting for God to tell me that now it's time to act, that the waiting is finally over. That to me is a waste of time, and is not how I should be living.
God has a purpose in asking us to wait and this can be accomplished through active waiting.
Let me explain: what I am doing when I'm actively waiting is I'm saying to God, I trust you, I put my faith in you, that what I am waiting for will happen when the time is right, when You will say to me "now" rather than "not yet". But while I wait for the "now" from you, God, I'm going to keep trusting and waiting on you.
Abraham placed his trust in God and waited for 25 years to be given the son God had promised him. When Abraham was 100 years old, God said, "now" is the right time for Abraham and Sarah to have their son, Isaac. That's a long time to wait! "Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised." Hebrews 6:15 (NLT), another translation says "patiently endured". Despite the long wait, Abraham kept believing God's word, he trusted that God would act on his behalf. This wait strengthened Abraham's faith, he kept believing despite the odds, despite what others said, despite his circumstances. Abraham illustrates for us active waiting. God strengthens my faith and your faith when we wait as Abraham did, when we keep trusting God despite the odds, despite what others say to us and despite our circumstances. And when the time is right God will act on our behalf and we will be blessed because we have actively waited.
God's purpose in our active waiting is to prepare us for that which we are waiting for. When God plants a dream in our hearts, when he promises us something, we naturally assume that because God has said so, it will be so right now. But usually he gives us a waiting time to prepare our hearts, our minds, our attitudes, our character so that we are ready for the time when God says "now". I mistakenly think that I'm ready right away to begin to live out the promise, the dream God has given me, but God has said to me "not yet". He wants to develop my endurance, to give me time to grow character - patience, love, compassion, faithfulness etc. and he also wants to develop in me the skills necessary for the task which lies ahead. If I'm to practice active waiting then I need to be open to God teaching me, to him showing me where my attitude is wrong, to him developing a characteristic in me, and to be obedient to what he says. Then the waiting time is not a wasted time, I can make the most of the time I have, whilst still trusting and believing God. God has given me a love of studying his word, the bible and a love of sharing it with others, so, as I spend time in his word, and as I share, whether in my ladies' small bible group or writing this blog, I am using this time to actively wait and allowing God to develop the necessary skills in my life.
David was a shepherd boy, anointed by the prophet, Samuel, to be Israel's next King. This didn't mean that immediately he left his work as a shepherd to become King. David actually had to wait about 14 years before he became King. He needed to wait for God's timing, to wait for God's "now" and in the meantime God continued to develop in David, through his role as shepherd and his position at the royal court, the skills he needed to be Israel's godly king. God was able to say of David "‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’" Acts 13:22 (NLT) David was a better king for having used his time wisely in his waiting period and trusting God. It meant that he was ready for it when God told him that he didn't need to wait anymore and today was the day he would be King. I want to be like David, and make the most of my waiting time so that I am ready for the time when God says "now". I don't want it to get to the "now time" and turn to God and tell him I'm not ready for it after all, and for God to then say to me, well, that's why I gave you this time, what have you been doing with it?!
Sometimes we think the time to act must be now. I know I've made that mistake in the past - I've thought I'm ready for it, I've looked at my circumstances and thought that now is the right time, or that I've waited long enough. But what I've actually done is taken my eyes off God and tried to work it out for myself. You see, our sense of timing is so different to God's, and as I've said before on previous blogs, his timing is right and is always best, because he sees and knows the big picture.
There were a couple of times when David could have taken advantage of his situation and listened to his men, who told him that it was time for him to become King. (You can read about it in 1 Samuel 24 and another instance in 1 Samuel 26:1-8.) But he didn't make that mistake, he knew that those times were not God's "now" and so he was able to rest secure in his relationship with God and trust him that God would make him King when God wanted him to be King. He knew God would keep his word to him.
God doesn't need me to manipulate the situation or people around me so that I get what I want. He is more than able to manage all things so that it happens in his time and his way, when he knows that I am ready for it, not when I think I must be ready.
I confess that there are times when I just don't wait well, when it seems as though all this time of waiting is a waste and that I could have done so much by now, that I'll never get those years back and that soon I'll be too old anyway (don't laugh at me, but now I'm in my 40s I do find myself thinking more about my age and that I'm old now! If you don't agree with me, just ask my children, they'll tell you I'm old! I know it's a mind set, I know the saying "You're as old as you feel", but even so, it feels now that time's not on my side, as it was in my 20s and 30s). I need to remember the truth that when I place myself in God's hands and submit to his will for my life then nothing is wasted - not the waiting time, not my life experiences, not my pain - and that actually God can take everything and use it according to his plan and use it for good, for myself and for others. I think that's what is meant in Joel 2:25 "And I will restore or replace for you the years that the locust has eaten—the hopping locust, the stripping locust, and the crawling locust, My great army which I sent among you." (Amplified Bible). The years that we think have been wasted, that were taken from us, for whatever reason, or we felt were unproductive, are restored and proven to be useful when we surrender it all to God. I may not fully understand this at the time, in the middle of those years, but my lack of understanding doesn't mean I'm not able to trust God. No, in my active waiting I can still demonstrate my faith in him, just as Abraham, David, and many other men and women of the bible did.
To Think About:
If you are in the midst of a waiting period, are you actively waiting or passively waiting?
What do you think God wants to develop in you whilst you wait on him? What particular characteristics? What particular skills?
Ask God to help you see this time, not as time wasted but as a time which has purpose and is valuable in preparing you to accomplish his will for you.
Vicki
I don't know anyone who really enjoys waiting, I know I don't! Whether it's waiting in the queue at the supermarket, sitting in the waiting room to see the Doctor, waiting for test results, or waiting for your birthday or a family holiday. Waiting just seems such a waste of time, doesn't it? Time that we could spend doing something else, something more productive, and we fuss and fume over the wasted time that we will never get back.
I've been thinking about last week's blog and it led to thoughts on how God often asks us to "wait" or says "not yet" to something we long for. We can read of many instances in the bible when God tells a person to wait.
It seems to me that God is asking that I wait for his timing, so how do I make the most of this waiting time so that it's not a wasted time?
I think there are two kinds of waiting, passive waiting and active waiting. Passive waiting means I sit around, twiddling my thumbs, waiting for something to happen, just waiting for God to tell me that now it's time to act, that the waiting is finally over. That to me is a waste of time, and is not how I should be living.
God has a purpose in asking us to wait and this can be accomplished through active waiting.
Let me explain: what I am doing when I'm actively waiting is I'm saying to God, I trust you, I put my faith in you, that what I am waiting for will happen when the time is right, when You will say to me "now" rather than "not yet". But while I wait for the "now" from you, God, I'm going to keep trusting and waiting on you.
Abraham placed his trust in God and waited for 25 years to be given the son God had promised him. When Abraham was 100 years old, God said, "now" is the right time for Abraham and Sarah to have their son, Isaac. That's a long time to wait! "Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised." Hebrews 6:15 (NLT), another translation says "patiently endured". Despite the long wait, Abraham kept believing God's word, he trusted that God would act on his behalf. This wait strengthened Abraham's faith, he kept believing despite the odds, despite what others said, despite his circumstances. Abraham illustrates for us active waiting. God strengthens my faith and your faith when we wait as Abraham did, when we keep trusting God despite the odds, despite what others say to us and despite our circumstances. And when the time is right God will act on our behalf and we will be blessed because we have actively waited.
God's purpose in our active waiting is to prepare us for that which we are waiting for. When God plants a dream in our hearts, when he promises us something, we naturally assume that because God has said so, it will be so right now. But usually he gives us a waiting time to prepare our hearts, our minds, our attitudes, our character so that we are ready for the time when God says "now". I mistakenly think that I'm ready right away to begin to live out the promise, the dream God has given me, but God has said to me "not yet". He wants to develop my endurance, to give me time to grow character - patience, love, compassion, faithfulness etc. and he also wants to develop in me the skills necessary for the task which lies ahead. If I'm to practice active waiting then I need to be open to God teaching me, to him showing me where my attitude is wrong, to him developing a characteristic in me, and to be obedient to what he says. Then the waiting time is not a wasted time, I can make the most of the time I have, whilst still trusting and believing God. God has given me a love of studying his word, the bible and a love of sharing it with others, so, as I spend time in his word, and as I share, whether in my ladies' small bible group or writing this blog, I am using this time to actively wait and allowing God to develop the necessary skills in my life.
David was a shepherd boy, anointed by the prophet, Samuel, to be Israel's next King. This didn't mean that immediately he left his work as a shepherd to become King. David actually had to wait about 14 years before he became King. He needed to wait for God's timing, to wait for God's "now" and in the meantime God continued to develop in David, through his role as shepherd and his position at the royal court, the skills he needed to be Israel's godly king. God was able to say of David "‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’" Acts 13:22 (NLT) David was a better king for having used his time wisely in his waiting period and trusting God. It meant that he was ready for it when God told him that he didn't need to wait anymore and today was the day he would be King. I want to be like David, and make the most of my waiting time so that I am ready for the time when God says "now". I don't want it to get to the "now time" and turn to God and tell him I'm not ready for it after all, and for God to then say to me, well, that's why I gave you this time, what have you been doing with it?!
Sometimes we think the time to act must be now. I know I've made that mistake in the past - I've thought I'm ready for it, I've looked at my circumstances and thought that now is the right time, or that I've waited long enough. But what I've actually done is taken my eyes off God and tried to work it out for myself. You see, our sense of timing is so different to God's, and as I've said before on previous blogs, his timing is right and is always best, because he sees and knows the big picture.
There were a couple of times when David could have taken advantage of his situation and listened to his men, who told him that it was time for him to become King. (You can read about it in 1 Samuel 24 and another instance in 1 Samuel 26:1-8.) But he didn't make that mistake, he knew that those times were not God's "now" and so he was able to rest secure in his relationship with God and trust him that God would make him King when God wanted him to be King. He knew God would keep his word to him.
God doesn't need me to manipulate the situation or people around me so that I get what I want. He is more than able to manage all things so that it happens in his time and his way, when he knows that I am ready for it, not when I think I must be ready.
I confess that there are times when I just don't wait well, when it seems as though all this time of waiting is a waste and that I could have done so much by now, that I'll never get those years back and that soon I'll be too old anyway (don't laugh at me, but now I'm in my 40s I do find myself thinking more about my age and that I'm old now! If you don't agree with me, just ask my children, they'll tell you I'm old! I know it's a mind set, I know the saying "You're as old as you feel", but even so, it feels now that time's not on my side, as it was in my 20s and 30s). I need to remember the truth that when I place myself in God's hands and submit to his will for my life then nothing is wasted - not the waiting time, not my life experiences, not my pain - and that actually God can take everything and use it according to his plan and use it for good, for myself and for others. I think that's what is meant in Joel 2:25 "And I will restore or replace for you the years that the locust has eaten—the hopping locust, the stripping locust, and the crawling locust, My great army which I sent among you." (Amplified Bible). The years that we think have been wasted, that were taken from us, for whatever reason, or we felt were unproductive, are restored and proven to be useful when we surrender it all to God. I may not fully understand this at the time, in the middle of those years, but my lack of understanding doesn't mean I'm not able to trust God. No, in my active waiting I can still demonstrate my faith in him, just as Abraham, David, and many other men and women of the bible did.
To Think About:
If you are in the midst of a waiting period, are you actively waiting or passively waiting?
What do you think God wants to develop in you whilst you wait on him? What particular characteristics? What particular skills?
Ask God to help you see this time, not as time wasted but as a time which has purpose and is valuable in preparing you to accomplish his will for you.
Vicki
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