Waiting

I am convinced that most of our lives are spent in some form of waiting. Sometimes this feels more acute, other times we are not aware of what we are waiting for. Lately I have felt like I am stuck in waiting and getting tired of it. So I started re-reading a book called Waiting by Ben Patterson that I know I have posted about before.
So this conglomeration of thoughts is stemming from this idea of waiting.
Ben Patterson writes: "To wait is to bow before his superior wisdom and timing when it comes to the things we want. It is to confess that he, not me, is the one in charge...You cannot hope in God until you have ceased to hope in yourself." Over the years as I have been learning more about waiting I have realized how I dislike waiting because I like results, I like things to happen now, I like to feel in control of when they happen. Let's be honest, I don't like to be uncomfortable and waiting is uncomfortable. It is this hanging in a balance of having unmet desires, of longings, and usually of me placing hope in circumstances or people. Proverbs 13:12 has been often quoted in our church...Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. Placing my hope on circumstances or people leads to heart sickness, but my hope placed in the Lord is a tree of life or a place where there is room for things to grow, to live, to be cut off, for fruit to be sown, for expansion, for purpose.
I also get trapped in the lie that loneliness is a companion to waiting but last night I was reminded that this is not the case. Moses, as he was being called, was told by God: "Certainly I will be with you." (Exodus 3:12). I do not stand alone...He is always there with me. He says certainly-I don't have to wonder or doubt the truth in his presence there, in the midst of my waiting.
Today I am thankful for a God who is faithful to meet me in my pain and in my need and to remind me of truth.