Waiting...The definition of waiting is the action of staying where one is or delaying action until a particular time or until something else happens. Our life has been put on hold for six months...I was chatting with someone I love about how hard it is to wait for this event to be over. Life is moving on and we can't do much except wait for this time to pass.
I have never been very good about waiting.....especially when I can't see the end in sight. We are all waiting for the day when our masks of many designs and colors come off our faces and we resume the life we used to have.
I can't wait to hug my friends, go to the beach and see the sunset. I can't wait to return to church, or have dinner with others that doesn't involve being six feet apart. I can't wait for my Pilates instruction to say "Let's do the series of five!" Well...I might wait a nano second for that! These things that I am waiting for aren't big...
But there are others waiting for something big, like the elderly waiting to leave their rooms to see their family face to face, an only child who hasn't seen a friend in months is waiting to return to school. Everywhere we turn people are hurting, angry and waiting for something to change.
So how do we learn to live with waiting? We have learned to wait for things before....this time it's different. It is happening to everyone in our community.
Here's what God tells us about waiting:
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your path.
Isaiah 40:31 But they who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Psalm 27:14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart; wait for the Lord.
Over the years when I have been in a place of sadness or despair...I open up my Bible to the verses that comfort me. God is the only one that is able to help me take my eyes off of me. So what is the big word that helps us wait?
Patience - the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. How about that definition!
During these trying times, patience is the last thing we want to think about and yet it should be front and center in our minds. We are called to love one another as God loves us. I think we all can agree that we need to work on that! We should be slow to anger and quick to forgive. If individually as well as collectively, we work on these three things, consider how different our neighborhood, our city, our state, and our country could be.
Here is what God tells us about patience:
Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Romans 8:25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
1Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
Proverbs 15:18 Hot tempers cause arguments, but patience brings peace.
Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
So this week take a deep breath, pray for God's help...read these scriptures each day and practice loving others.
