In the waiting... in the process

If you are anything like me, you don’t like waiting, and you get irritated when you have to wait for anything whether its people, answers or even food in a restaurant.  

Generally, human beings don’t wait well. I would say it’s partly because we live in a world that thrives on convenience. From fast food, fast internet, fast cars, to even fast dates, it’s an endless list of fast everything.

However, in this life there will be times we will have no choice but to wait.

I find myself smack in the middle of a very long season of waiting. In the begininng, I felt like God just halted my life. Gifted with a type A personality; it drove me crazy, I looked for ways out , banged on doors that would not barge!

  Eventually, God whispered, “The more you keep trying to get out of it the longer it will take.”   This got my attention, and I began asking these questions.

 How do I wait well?  How do I wait in a way that my waiting releases results?

“I waited patiently and expectantly for the lord; and he inclined to me and heard my cry.” (Psalms 40:1)

To wait ‘patiently’ means to wait uncomplainingly, long-sufferingly, good-naturedly, unwearyingly and tolerantly.

The psalmist isn’t just waiting patiently, he is also waiting expectantly.

His waiting is not  a passive time lapse filled with meaningless things and moments until the main events arrive. It’s an active process, full of expectation and occupied with making preparations to receive.

 When we understand what it means to wait like the psalmist then our perspectives changes, we no longer slack or try to fill our time with unproductive things. Our waiting becomes productive.

The eagle

Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall lift up their wings and mount up as the eagles; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

 God uses the analogy of soaring like an eagle here for a reason.

The eagle is a remarkable bird in that it lives very different from other birds. Whenever a storm approaches, an eagle doesn’t find itself a hiding place. Instead, it flies to a high place and waits for the storm.  When the storm hits it spreads its wings wide and allows the wind of the storm to lift it higher. By the strength of the winds of the storm, the eagle is able to soar way above the storm

Isn’t this incredible?  While the storm rages below, the eagle soars above it. It doesn’t escape the storm, it thrives in the storm.

This verse is teaching us that when we wait on God; on His counsel, on His guidance, then we will be able to soar above adversity. God becomes the wind that lifts us above our circumstances. We don’t have to be afraid or try to escape, by learning to wait on God we learn to soar with Him just like the eagle in a storm.

 When we have joy despite our circumstances; when we wait patiently with a good attitude, when we treat people better than they treat us, when we live beyond the way we feel and do the right thing...This is soaring.

The Chinese bamboo tree

There is this interesting tree called ‘the Chinese bamboo tree’. It’s interesting because of the peculiar way that it usually grows. In the first four years, the gardener will see nothing off the ground except a tiny little shoot. Yet in those years, he is required to keep fertilizing and watering this tiny shoot.  As he continuously does so.

 In the fifth year… Something amazing happens.

The bamboo tree shoots up to 90 feet tall in just a few weeks.

 Here is the secret…In the time where nothing visible is seen happening to this plant, something amazing is happening beneath the soil, the tree’s root structure grows deep and wide enough to be able to support the bamboo tree on the outside when it grows to a ninety feet and beyond.

 In consequence, the root structure is imperative; it not only holds the tree in place, it also feeds the tree. Without it, there will be no tree.

There’s a metaphor in here perhaps for us…

In the first four years, the patience of the farmer is tested; self doubt sneaks in and he starts wondering if his efforts are ever going to pay off. He mutters to himself, “Maybe I should just quit and plant another tree, perhaps, am better off planting a palm tree.”

Our time in waiting feels much like this farmer, we have sown the seeds, watered and fertilized the soil but have very little to show for it.  

Like the farmer, just because we can’t see it on the outside it doesn’t mean God isn’t working and doing an amazing thing on the inside.

Like the Chinese bamboo tree, God is working our root structure (our character) in our waiting. He is building our character to be able to hold our dreams and destinies.

Through overcoming adversity and challenges, our internal system becomes strong enough to hold us and bear us in our successes.

Everyone who hears these words of mine and obeys them is like a wise man who builds his house upon a rock

The rains came, the streams rose, the winds blew and beat against the house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation upon the rock. (Matthew 7: 24-25)

In our season of waiting, as we spend time in prayer, as we study the word of God, and keep applying it to our daily lives, the word of God becomes strongly inbuilt in us.

We are now strong enough to overcome life’s challenges because we have a strong foundation and because we have built strong characters in the process.

The Israelites

 When pharaoh let them go. God led them not by the way of the land of the philistines although that was nearer; for God said, lest the people change their minds and return to Egypt when they face war. ( Exodus 13:17)

They had been captives in Egypt for many years; God had a new life, new place for them, but they were in no condition to walk into the Promised Land. God chooses the long way. Instead of an eleven-day journey into Canaan, it took them about two to three years.

Why?

 In order to possess the Promised Land they had to fight giants. And to fight those giants, they had to be very well prepared; therefore, God chose the wilderness as the place for their training.

Later in order to possess the land, in Joshua 12:24, “They had to fight 31 kings in all.” 

These are a lot of battles.

Appropriately, God usually allows us to pass through the wilderness to train us for war. Many Christians don’t like to hear they are in a war, if you don’t believe me check (Ephesians 6:10). The minute you step into the kingdom, you immediately become a target for the enemy. Therefore, it’s paramount that God allow us to go through the wilderness to learn how to fight and win.

In the waiting, God is training you to fight.  The little day-to-day battles, are preparing you for the bigger battles ahead.

Day by day, little by little, you conquer fear, self-doubt, selfishness, despair, unforgiveness, pride…and eventually you are ready to face the giants in your promised land.

When we finally get it, our perspectives change. We now start making good use of our time in waiting.

Our grumbling, our complaining and the ‘when God when?’  Will now change to ‘God what do I need to learn here?’

In the waiting… in the process...God is working out something beautiful.