Waiting. No one likes it. From the grocery store to the doctor’s office, we place a lot of value on our time and we’re ready to move on to the next task on our list as quickly as possible. And don’t even get me started on waiting for a new life season. When you’re in school, you can’t wait until graduation. When you’re single, you can’t wait to get married. When you’re married, you can’t wait to have kids. When you’re at work, you can’t wait until your next vacation. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of looking ahead instead of being present.
I know sometimes I feel like the poster child for waiting. Milestones that I thought would be well behind me have yet to happen. Dreams delayed, expectations unmet…What am I even doing with my life? If I’m being honest, I’ve struggled feeling like I’m behind and life has passed me by. Our culture tells us that if you haven’t done certain things by certain ages, there’s something wrong with you or you’re never going to get there. I’ve spent many hours crying and asking God if he’s forgotten me. On one such occasion, I got an answer, and it was so encouraging: God’s timing isn’t tied to the timeline of the “American Dream.”
Just because my life may not look like other people my age, it doesn’t mean that I’m behind. God isn’t tied to some made up time table that we all feel like we have to live by. He wrote my story long before I was born and he knows exactly when to place me in seasons and situations that will be best for me and bring him glory.
I recently heard this phrase and it wrecked my world in a good way: Don’t despise your season of waiting. Whew, anyone else feel convicted? I was so focused on everything that I thought I was missing and feeling like God had forgotten me, that I never stopped to ask God what his plan was for me in the current season. I woke up everyday and did what I was supposed to do, but on the inside, there was an undercurrent of discontentment. I’m not one to feel sorry for myself, but in weak moments, I listened to the lies from the enemy that I had missed out on God’s blessings and the lies that I should just give up on my dreams.
But once I started remembering who God is and that time doesn’t matter to him, I felt renewed peace and joy. Instead of focusing on what was wrong with my future, I focused on what is so very right about the present. Days that were filled with longing and sorrow turned into memories and moments of laughter and joy with the people and places God had me in. I stopped being weighed down with anxieties about the future – which, by the way, did nothing to resolve anything or make me feel better – and I started living day-by-day focused on God’s grace and trusting in his plan for me.
And I’ve grown spiritually in this season of waiting too. Lessons that I wouldn’t have learned if life had gone by my timetable are now part of who I am and how I relate to those around me. God never has us in a season of waiting because he’s forgotten us. When we are waiting on God’s timing, it’s usually because he wants us to prepare for the gifts he has in store for us. Instead of despising the season you’re in and focusing on what you don’t have, ask God to show you the work he wants you to do. If you’re waiting for marriage, keep preparing for marriage as a single person to make that season great. If you’re waiting for a promotion, practice relating to your coworkers well and being the kind of boss you would want to have. There are lessons to be learned in the here and now that will make your future answered prayers that much sweeter.
So take some advice from the former poster child for waiting. Use this season of waiting as a training ground for what you’re waiting for. Surrender it to God and ask him to use that time to accomplish his will for your life. He is faithful and will either prepare you or give you a new dream that he has planned for you. There’s purpose in every season, including the waiting seasons, so don’t lose your focus. God’s got something wonderful planned just for you!