Lessons Learned While Waiting

{originally published in 2012}   It has been said that some people were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, and while that may or may not be true, it could be argued that I was born holding a microphone. At the very least it should be no surprise that in my heart God has placed a few dreams and questions about what I would do with that love of living life out loud and in front. Some of these have been ruminating for almost 20 years, waiting for an answer. 20 years is a long time to wait for anything. It’s especially long to wait and have a great attitude about it.  So before I move on I feel compelled to confess that I am not the world’s best wait-er.  Waiting might have once or twice made me a little cranky.  So while on one hand I will admit now that the waiting has been positive on the other hand I’m very excited to say that getting a “yes” from God is just about as shiny as it gets. One of the things God said “yes” to was a question I asked Him over 15 years ago when I got involved with the worship ministry at our church. I asked God if I would ever be capable of leading a worship team. And for a long, long, time, the answer was “wait”, which if you’re me, sounds a lot like “no”.  But then I got that chance, quite out of the blue, for our women’s retreat at the end of May. It was awesome, and the whole evening was such a gift from God! Then only a few weeks later a dream was fulfilled – I was asked to be a guest speaker for a women’s group at a church in our area. (It’s ok, I think my dreams are weird too) I’m passionate about women realizing how much God loves them and their families, and was so honoured to have been asked to speak to this group.  I was able to share and discuss a topic near and dear to my heart: Busyness.  I had no idea when I wrote on the subject for Family Matters months ago that it would lead to this! The response and interaction from that night was incredible and it is a memory I won’t soon forget. On both occasions I believe God was glorified. That He would choose to use me is humbling and still leaves me speechless…for a moment or two anyway.  I have no idea why both things happened within the space of a few weeks.  And I don’t really know what it all means in the long haul, but I learned (or maybe re-learned is a better word) some great lessons because of them. God’s timing is better than our own.  I am positive if I had been given those experiences when I first had those dream-seeds planted, the fruit wouldn’t have been nearly as sweet as it was because of all I learned through the process of waiting. Shocking, isn’t it?  If there weren’t already 15,000 books written on this subject, I might be tempted to write my own. I have given nominal assent to this concept of value-in-waiting once or twice before as I was plowing my way through life but I’ve rarely believed it. I am so glad I listened to that teeny-tiny voice that told me to wait, to not push, and to just be patient, because God’s timing would be better. There’s freedom in releasing our need to know the ending to everything. We just need to be faithful. It’s a constant process for me to let go of my need to predict every possible outcome from every event that happens.  I got to lead worship once. And while I was preparing for that evening I started to feel the need to know what would happen after.  Would I get to do this again?  How often?  Similar thoughts filled my mind when I was preparing to speak.  In fact, I struggle with this often. When one of my kids is struggling with something, or succeeding in something, it’s hard not to want to know the ending before I begin doing anything. Whether it’s with our kids, or ourselves we don’t need to have all the answers to begin doing the right thing. Just take what you have in your hand right now and make the most of it.  Trust that God is using you.  We are being shaped to make a difference for now and for the future. Don’t let charging to find out what’s at the finish line take away from what God is teaching you right now. You will come alive when you when you are doing what God created you to do for the purpose of making His name great.   Pursuing greatness, doing what we were made to do with excellence, in the end isn’t really about us.  If it doesn’t point back to the greatness of God, to the sacrifice and atonement of Jesus, to how the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives, it’s only going to get us half-way there. So whatever you are doing, whether it’s doing great things or waiting for great things to happen, do it all for the glory of the One who makes all things possible.

For from him and through him and for him are all things.

To him be the glory forever!  

Romans 11:36

What has God taught you through waiting?