By Doug Strickel
Waiting is hard for many of us. We live in a culture of fast food, immediate news feeds, quick shopping swipes, quick deliveries, and instant answers to many questions (just ask Siri). We can get quick directions, fast cash, and pay a little more to access the express lanes. There’s no question we have access to “fast” in many aspects of life.
However, that’s not the entirety of life. We don’t have control over many other aspects of life. We must wait.
There’s no fast path to the end of the month, quarter, or year. Twenty-four hours in a day doesn’t change.
There’s no express lane for getting the results from the biopsy. There’s no button to push to get a quick response from that job interview that you desperately need. There’s no short version for the addiction rehab process.
We must wait. We wait for someone close to us to turn things around. We wait for someone to respond to our repeated calls. We wait for answers to prayers that have been voiced so many times. I have waited years for answers to several concerns/prayers.
The Bible contains great examples of waiting. Noah waited 120 years while building the ark. Abraham waited years for God to provide answers to a promise. Moses waited 40 years in the desert. David waited almost 20 years to become king after the initial promise. The disciples were told by Jesus to wait.
Waiting is hard though. The problem in waiting is that we lose focus and let our mind take us places that we don’t need to go. We worry that we are missing out, wasting time, and falling behind. We dwell on negative outcomes, worst possible scenarios, and painful experiences. We worry, experience anxiety, and grow impatient.
The key question is how do we learn to wait effectively? How can we wait and still make progress? How can we wait and not be overcome with stressful, worrisome thoughts?
Here are a few ideas:
- Waiting is not living in idle mode. Many of us may think that waiting means we just stop until the answer arrives. While we may not have the answers and don’t need to make hasty decisions, that doesn’t mean we shut everything down. We need to continue doing “right things”. We need to continue doing “right things” in our life and continue to seek answers through connections, questions, and commitments.
- Waiting is tune-up time. While we wait for answers, direction, and resolution, we can invest that time in preparation, development, and impact. Develop a plan and execute that plan until you have the answers for a new plan. You will be better prepared for whatever the future holds.
- Waiting is a time to look outward. Rather than focusing entirely on your situation, consider consuming yourself with helping or serving others. Simply focusing outward can redirect your thoughts, broaden perspective, and reduce the stress of waiting.
- Waiting is a time to make changes. Maybe you need to reconnect or disconnect. Who are the people, media options, and information sources that lift you up? Who are the ones that drag you down? Be willing to make changes.
Waiting is hard. We all must do it at one time or another. While I wait, I continue to focus on those four bullets above. Jesus said to ask, seek, and knock for the “door” to be opened. Those are action words!
I’m going to continue to get active and hurry up and wait!
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