The Waiting Game

When I lived in Chicago and relied on public transportation in order to get where I needed to be, I often found myself waiting…and waiting and waiting!

As frustrating as that may have been, my bus or train always showed up, usually not on my time frame, but that’s the joy of relying on something—or Someone—that is out of our control.

I have spent the past few years trying to control something I cannot. Despite my best efforts to prevent a financial downfall last winter, it happened anyway. Yet here we are. We made it through somehow. It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t pleasant by any means, but God got us through.

Today I asked God to speak to me, that my heart was open to receive His Word for my life today, and I heard, “Be patient and wait on Me.”

Anyone who knows me knows I’m incredibly impatient, so when God asked me to be patient, I reacted in panic in two ways: 1. how in the world do I do that!?; 2. help me! It was as if my head jumped into the future again, to our destitute winter, and began mapping out how I wouldn’t respond.

Like the Chicago bus, it eventually came and picked me up and took me where I needed to go. I was sometimes late for work, or missed the next means of transportation in the route of transfers, but I got there. Not in my timing, but in Chicago’s. As much as I hated relying on public transportation it was all I had.

Once I began doing things my way and brought my car to the city feeling I could outwit the system, my car was towed twice, I racked up parking tickets upon parking tickets, I often paid a hefty price to park downtown when I needed to work, I was still sometimes late for work because traffic is the same for both cars AND buses, and eventually my car was booted for all those unpaid parking tickets. The consequences of doing it my way, thinking that it would somehow be easier, only made my life (at times) more unbearable, particularly in the unforeseen future.

So what does waiting on God mean then?

When we wait on God He will teach us His ways and lead us in truth (Psalm 25:4-5). Integrity and uprightness will preserve us (Psalm 25:21). God will strengthen our hearts (Psalm 27:14) and become our help and shield, showing us mercy (Psalm 33: 20, 22). We shall inherit what God intends to give to us(Psalm 37:34). He hears us (Psalm 40:1) and becomes our defense (Psalm 62:1). He will give us hope and be our rock and salvation (Psalm 62:5-6). We will become glad and rejoice (Isaiah 25:9). He will be gracious to us and bless us (Isaiah 30:18). Our strength will be renewed, we’ll mount up with wings of eagles, run but not get weary, walk and not faint, and we won’t be ashamed (Isaiah 40:32, 49:23). He will be good to us (Lamentations 3:25). 

Although the waiting game seems like a losing battle, we eventually get where we need to be. It is in God’s timing, not our own. However, when we try to make things happen outside of God’s timing and will, we may see instant gratification, but the ramifications are unseen in our future.

I’ve never been good at waiting, but God promises to be good to me if do.