Waiting

A company offered tours through the historic district, led by guides dressed in Colonial clothing. While leading a group, one of the guides, tripped and fell, breaking his wrist. He went to the hospital and as he sat waiting in the emergency room, a policeman walked by. Doing a double take at him in his 18th-century garb he asked, "Just how long have you been waiting?"


No one likes to wait. I don’t like waiting in line, for Christmas, test results, or even for my favorite team to finally make the playoffs. Waiting goes against every ounce of my being, it tears at my soul. Okay maybe I’m being a little dramatic, but you get the idea, I do not like to wait. So what is the value of waiting? It says in Proverbs 8 that there is a blessing in waiting.

“32 Now then, my children, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways. 33 Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not disregard it. 34 Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. 35 For those who find me find life and receive favor from the LORD. 36 But those who fail to find me harm themselves; all who hate me love death.” Proverbs 8:32-36 NIV
The blessing of waiting is found in what you are waiting for. If you are waiting for others to step up and serve in your church or in your community you will be disappointed. If you are waiting till you feel like it before you finally clean out the garage; you again will be disappointed. Whenever we sit back and wait for the world to live up to our expectations we will always be unsatisfied. As you can see from Proverbs 8, whenever we wait for God there is no sitting around, in fact it is the opposite. When we wait for God we begin to find a strength that we did not know we had. We find that strength thru listening, watching, and joining God in the work that He does each day. Lately I have been trying to get Jackson and Abby to do a better job of listening to others. The other day Jackson was waiting in the car rider line; however he was not listening, therefore he did not hear his name called. He missed it and I had to go around into the office to get him. He ended up waiting longer because he was not listening. Whenever we wait for God we must learn to listen because He calls us each day to new opportunities to grow, to serve, and to be with Him.