Good in the Waiting
It’s no secret that our family’s move to Spain has not been a speedy process. There have been years and years of delays and long periods when the way forward did not seem clear at all. Now that we are finally here in Barcelona as residents, I have been mediating on the meaning of waiting through the perspective of all we have faced over the years to get here.
While it’s true that our big delays in getting to Spain are over, we’ve been facing mountains of little delays that are keeping us trained in the exercise of waiting. The paperwork and appointments and the rescheduled appointments when paperwork doesn’t line up just so… waiting for places to open after holidays, and for step one to finally take place because step two through ten say they can’t help us without step one. It could all seem like a frustratingly unnecessary series of postponements.
But also, during this season, nearly every day, I have had the privilege to tend and water a friend’s plants. And as I have cared for them, delighting to see them grow and bloom, I’ve been meditating on the meaning of waiting.
In 1 Corinthians 3:5-7, Paul writes, “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.”
We, who wait on the Living God, know this truth deeply. We wait for things we ourselves cannot produce. We can tend and water, but only God gives the power and life to make the plant grow. We can tend to a wound, but God is the power behind the healing. We can search the scriptures, but God gives the revelation of truth. And very often, waiting is part of the process God chooses.
It is God’s wisdom that a slow revelation of beauty is written into the design of everything the he has made. The Creator made trees to bear fruit, not in days, but in years. In every living and growing thing, there is a question of “What is this becoming?” The Author of all life has written the answer, only revealed to us through the long, slow passage of time. He has designed life to be full of waiting.
This often feels like a painstakingly slow process to me. To our modern minds the process of waiting often appears to have little value. We humans tend to have a penchant for promptness and efficiency. I want my problems to be solved quickly, my internet to be fast and reliable, and my Amazon deliveries to be on time and just what I ordered. The phenomenon of modern supply chains and instant entertainment on every screen gives us more comfortable, leisurely, and easy lives than ancient peoples could ever have dreamed. In a world where almost everything is fast and efficient, Christians are uniquely called to active waiting in a way that many people today will never experience.
But I believe something happens when we wait that is right and good. While we wait on him he is giving us something that we cannot produce, not only in the results we seek, but in experience of the wait itself. Waiting means patiently keeping our hope alive, pouring out our prayers, and also our honesty about the pain of “not-yet.”
We are tested during waits. We experience the temptation to accuse and blame God while we wait and we have the opportunity to see what is in our own hearts as it bubbles over. Honesty, repentance, healing, and being continually washed clean by his abundant, never-ending love becomes part of the longest waits. Our FAITH grows through the monotonous labor of everyday tending, hoping, and praying for the good promise to come true. The promises that we cannot make come true by ourselves.
Beyond all this, honor is given through a long wait. The pomp and magnificence of kings is not revealed at the click of a button, but through anticipation, drumroll, and ceremony. Is it any wonder that the most valuable and precious things are what we wait for the longest? We all know the old adage, “good things come to those who wait,” and we evaluate whether something is “worth the wait.” Waiting gives proof to what is valuable. And what we are willing to wait for shows what we truly value. (In these terms, Jesus’ coming as king on Earth will be the most tremendous wait the world has ever known.)
In waiting, our love is born again and again, more deeply, richly and truly as time goes on. Our hearts beat more tenderly and fully for the hope we long cherish.
In Psalm 42, David prays, “As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after you, my God… my soul thirsts for you, the living God… When can I go and meet with God?” His anguish as he waits on God is clear. But in the midst of the pain he repeats one line: “ I will yet praise him, my savior and my God… I will yet praise him, my savior and my God.” Amid the agony of waiting and seeking the Lord, David increases and repeats his praise. Adoration grows and love comes alive as we seek and wait.
“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great… so that you will be a blessing… and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
The Lord blesses us, that we may become blessings. In waiting for his blessings for our lives, our hearts and spirits grow not just for our own sake, but also for the sake of all he intends to pour through us for the blessing of others. I believe its not a coincidence that Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and David all experienced famously long waits before the Lord poured out blessing, not only on them, but through them for the good of all. As the Lord said to Abraham, “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great… so that you will be a blessing… and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12: 2-3)
Ever-unfolding blessing is part of the design God has written into all of creation, wrapped up in waiting. We tend and water the plant, asking God to make it grow. God blesses the plant, not just for its own sake, but also for all who will eat its fruit, rest in its shade, enjoy it’s beauty, and sow new life from it’s seeds. Our labor, our hunger, and our prayers join in the mix with his good work through the waiting, to the joy of all.
And so even with all of it’s pain, and difficulty, and frustration, I cannot see that waiting is anything less than a gift to us, given by a loving God. Through the experience of waiting he grows wisdom within us to taste the value of his gifts with him - not only know about their value, but truly savor it. He is shaping our hearts to become more like his own: more capable of giving and receiving love, joy and honor. He is shaping hearts full of faith. What a privilege it is to wait on the Lord, and receive all of the good he has for us through it. He is truly good in the waiting.
CREDITS
plants: Brent Meyers
photos: Derek Jenkins