How To Wait Well

You’ve heard the statements:

“No one likes to wait anymore!”

“We live in a microwave society”

“Everyone wants everything instantly”

While these statements are fast becoming clichés, we all know they are true. 

Bottom line, waiting is painful- especially in today’s world.

Yet, if you’ve been a Christian for any length of time, you probably know that we tend to do A LOT of waiting. In fact, if as a Christian, you are yet to experience a time of waiting, don’t worry I can assure you your time will come :).

The very nature of being in a relationship with God requires you to become skilled in the fine art of waiting. Why? Oh, because you see, my darling reader, God takes His precious time.

Some have had to wait for a spouse. Others, for children. Yet others, for their businesses to take off.

How about these less-known waiting periods like getting over mental illness or trauma. Or waiting to see a loved one saved? Or even waiting for this pandemic to blow over (after all the Spanish flu from back in the 1900s eventually did, no?).

Yes, waiting is part of the package, brothers and sisters!

An old friend of mine (we’ll call her Kate) had to wait 13 years to hear herself be referred to as “mom”. She’s got a beautiful set of twins now but her waiting period was rift with pain, like a gaping wound that refused to heal.

But looking at her and how she ‘wonder-womaned’ her way through those 13 years, I learnt that there was a difference between waiting and waiting well. I watched as she became queen of what I started calling the “wince n smile” tactic. 

But she learnt to smile. Not those fake ones that look like they’ve been pasted but bravely, in the face of the glimmer of hope slowly but surely disappearing.

Let’s not get too fairy-taley here- waiting is hard! Even when you know all the right quotes and scriptures, like ‘God’s timing is the best’ or ‘Waiting is only for a season’ or ‘Joy comes in the morning’.

But like I already said waiting is part of the package so you might as well wait well, right?

Here’s how Kate did it.

She recognised that the waiting indeed was only for a season

Ok so like I already said, knowing this fact doesn’t mean waiting will be easy. It’s different for waiting periods like pregnancy or schooling where the waiting period is well defined. But when you have to wait indefinitely? Different kettle of fish. But the key here is recognising that the waiting period will end, regardless. This is where your ‘rubber of faith’ meets the road. Kate learnt to trust and not lean on her understanding.

She had one incredibly busy waiting period

In other words, Kate didn’t just sit back and wallow in waiting misery. She actively waited. In her case, that meant fostering. It was like she was preparing herself for what was to come. Serving is an amazing way to actively wait and no, it doesn’t have to be through fostering. You could start a blog educating people in your area of expertise while you wait for your business to take off. Or be an active donor of provisions to orphanages. Pick one and get to work!

She learned to quieten the negative voices in her head

This one was particularly hard. Think about it (no pun intended). You can keep busy during the day but then comes the quieter hours with all those thoughts swirling in your head. 

Kate chose to fight back by saying bible scriptures out loud. It became a game of sorts. A negative thought would cross her mind and she would counter it with scriptures. And at those times when she didn’t know a scripture to counter a particularly negative thought, she’d enjoy the process of discovering the most stirring ones.

But I don’t want you to miss the most important piece of this process which was her SPEAKING OUT…as opposed to THINKING the scriptures. Speaking out over and over again, quieted those unruly thoughts. 

And so with those 3 principles at work, Kate seemed to blaze through those 13 years unscathed- at least to the naked eye. Those closest to her knew better though. That’s what made the end of her waiting period sweeter. 

How about you? Do you need some wellness infused into your waiting? Remember that God’s modus operandi transcends time (2Peter 3:8) so while He may not show up when you expect or think He will, He always without fail shows up right on time.