I CAN Wait

I moved to Pittsburgh two weeks ago. In the short time that I have been here, I have visited the local Hobby Lobby at least three times. The first two times, the front area was all decorated for fall. But the last time that I was there, the front area was decorated for Christmas. Here I was, in Hobby Lobby, where it was still summer and it was all decorated for something that’s two seasons away. It made me think about the seasons and how quickly we move through them. When it’s winter, we just want the summer heat already. When it’s summer, we’re just ready for it to be fall or Christmas season again. But how often do we really take full advantage of the season we’re in without wanting to skip to the next one?

The thing is, we live in a world where we want instant gratification; we don’t want to wait for anything. As somebody who has worked in a restaurant for almost 2 years, I can tell you that often times people don’t even want to wait 10-20 minutes for a table, let alone wait for their food to be made.

I’ve been noticing how often the phrase “I can’t wait” is used. I’ve been trying to eliminate it from my vocabulary.

I think what really got me was when I sat in an auditorium and just listened to the students in front of me talk about how they just couldn’t wait for their future. It broke my heart to hear them in such a hurry. I remember the stage of my life when I just “couldn’t wait” for the rest of my life. It led to many bad decisions and absolute heartache to the point that I thought that the only solution was suicide. Almost like I didn’t want to give it the time for things to work out, I wanted to feel better right then and there.

So why do we always say we can’t wait? Don’t get me wrong, I understand that a lot of times we mean that we’re just excited for something, and that’s okay! It’s good to be excited about the future and to have goals! I remember as far back as 2nd grade, sitting on the bus ride home, just dreaming about my future. I wanted to get married and have a family. I remember sitting on the bus and thinking about just how far away that was.

But when my excitement and my visions turn into “can’t waits”, then things start to fall apart. I stop relying on God and instead start relying on myself to get to where I one day want to be. And guess what? I fail. every. single. time.

I went through a devotional plan last week about Ruth, and I wanted to share some of my notes from Day 18. “If we grow impatient with God’s timing and directives, we end up making impulsive decisions from the flesh, rather than waiting for the leading of the Spirit. God’s ways are always better than ours. If we choose to honor Him, He will make a way for us just as he did for Ruth and Boaz.”

If you don’t know about Ruth, Ruth was a Moabite woman who had married an Ephrathite man, the son of Naomi. But eventually, Naomi’s husband died and she was left with her two sons and their wives. After about 10 years, Naomi’s sons pass away. Naomi tells her daughters-in-law to go back to their home, and Naomi plans to return to Bethlehem. But Ruth is faithful to Naomi, and decides to go with her. Once they return to Bethlehem, Naomi is still grieving, and her view of God is blurred. It is in this season that Ruth decides to go out into the field to serve and to take care of Naomi. She makes Naomi’s God her God and she SERVES. “As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz…” God was working in every detail of Ruth’s life, and as she was trusting Him and serving Him, He was working. Boaz takes notice of Ruth’s hard work and after time, they get married and have children. (Fun fact, down the line of their genealogy comes Jesus!)

Maybe Ruth was that little girl who always dreamed of getting married, and when she finally gets there, plans change and she loses her husband. But she doesn’t take matters into her own hands, she puts matters into God’s hands.

So what if we waited? What if we just enjoyed the season that we were in while God prepared us for the next? I can assure you, the outcome will be even better. There is a reason for our waiting. And our waiting is not just about waiting, but it’s about serving.

As my pastor said yesterday, “sometimes life feels like we’re in a waiting room. We can either spend that time worrying, or we can spend that time trusting, it navigates how we spend our waiting season. When you let what you see define your story, there’s no joy, no peace, and no hope there…On the other side of trust is everything you’ve been craving.”

“God is not in a hurry. You are. It’s why you are tired. It’s why you are anxious, and stressed, and disappointed. Trust that what was meant to be yours, will be yours.”

When I focus on waiting on God’s timing, He fills me with the peace and the patience that I need in order to get me there. We all go through different seasons at different times and for different reasons, so I encourage you to find purpose in yours.

I’m currently where I used to dream of being. So why not take full advantage of growing in this season? Why waste this season that I used to be so excited about (and am currently still SO excited about) by trying to rush to the next?

I’m excited for this season, and I’m excited for my future…but I CAN wait.