We live in a time where most things are literally at our fingertips. Society has taught us that access and immediacy must go hand in hand. For many of us, this pandemic is probably the first time when we cannot do things when we want to, and in the timeframe that best suits us. For the past couple of months, a large part of our collective instructions has been to--you guessed it--wait. We've had to wait for cities, businesses, and services to reopen. We've been told to stay at home and wait for further instructions. If you are like me, waiting for anything for more than about 30 minutes would make you lose your interest. What happens when the things we are waiting for are not bound by our concept of time here on earth? 

You know what I'm talking about. When you wait for the things you've been praying for, that breakthrough you feel you desperately need, the desires of your heart that in your earthly opinion are long overdue. Do you ever feel that way? Like life has you on the back burner, or at best on the sidelines – waiting? Waiting for the next step, your next job, the next relationship, the next chance. Waiting is not just something we have to do until we get what we want. Waiting is part of the process of becoming the person God wants us to be.  

Sometimes it feels like the wait is a gentle reminder that we aren't in control as much as we like to think we are. While reading Habakkuk 2:3, did anyone else scratch their head when you read the part that said "though it linger….will not delay" part? God, how can something linger but not be delayed?  

So here is the "hard" part, are you ready? Sometimes God requires that we learn certain lessons before He can answer some of our most desperate prayers. We often think that we are ready to receive all of the things we ask God for but, are we really ready? If God answered that prayer for you today, would you be prepared to receive it? Have we prepared our hearts and minds to walk into what He has for us and walk in it well? 

A term that has become popular in sports in the last few years is "trust the process." Do we actually trust the process, or do we want to rush to the happy ending? Waiting reminds us that we are on God's timing and not our own. The wait reminds us that we are not in charge. Sometimes that's tough for us to accept. Our entire lives, we are told that we control our destinies and that we can do anything in our own strength. The reality is that once we make the decision to follow God, we throw our plans out the window in exchange for His.

I love this peek into the conversation Jesus had with the disciples right before He ascended into heaven. I always like to put myself in the sandals of biblical characters and try to understand what and how they were thinking. If I'm a disciple and I KNOW this is the last time I'm seeing Jesus in the flesh, I'd want a FULL download from Him. Tell me everything Jesus, tell me now. In this particular case, their question was around the plans for the kingdom of Israel. Jesus' response to them was so powerful, and I think is something that we can all learn from:

Then they gathered around him and asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1: 7-8 (NIV) 

What I think is most interesting about his response to them is that God was not ready to tell these men all of the details, even when they were His trusted few here on earth. It wasn't time to reveal the plans that He had in store for the people of Israel. Even the disciples had to wait. None of us are exempt from waiting for the manifestation of God's plans for our lives. What blew me away about this interaction was the promise that He left the disciples with. Our job in the waiting is not to be consumed by the time it's taking God to see things through in our lives. I want to be able to stand in the promises that God has over my life. Sometimes that means I need to wait until the timing falls on His schedule and not mine. He has assured us that we will be equipped with the Holy Spirit and be His witnesses when that time comes. What this tells me is that while I wait, He is working. He is doing a work in us and through us. He is strengthening us, and He will use our testimony to show others that when we submit to His will and His timing (and not our own), the life that He has to offer is far greater than what we can even think to ask for. 

He's been faithful to us in multiple ways and on various occasions. So what reason do we have to worry that He wouldn't do the same now? The bible reminds us that "The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks Him;..." Lamentations 3:25 (NIV). While we continue to seek Him and keep our hope in Him, He orchestrates things on our behalf. My prayer for you and I is that we don't grow weary in our waiting, but that we take the time to ask ourselves what it is that God wants us to learn on the way to the unfolding of his plan.