“We do a lot of waiting. But the most difficult kind of waiting? Waiting on God.”- Wayne Stiles
In the Introduction to Waiting on God: What to do when God does nothing, author and pastor Wayne Stiles describes how it feels to wait on God. Usually, Dr. Stiles states, waiting on God involves hanging on until God changes our circumstances. However, from our perspective, God seldom seems in a hurry.
Dr. Stiles observes that often God allows our circumstances to stay the same- or even worsen- while He waits on us to change. Wayne likens this waiting game to playing Ping-Pong or tug-of-war. The author explains:
“So . . . both God and we are in a waiting game, idling in neutral until someone moves first. We want God to change situations. God wants us to change in them. We want relief. God wants repentance. We want happiness. God wants holiness. We want pleasure. God wants piety.”
The bottom line- God always wins the waiting game. Yet, we see scant evidence that God is helping us to move forward. As a result, we attempt to speed up or sidestep the waiting process. In other words, Dr. Stiles quips, “we can’t microwave God’s plans for us.”
Even though we can’t understand the purpose of the red light, we surely know what that red light means. Wait. Since we are going to wait anyway, the question then becomes: “How will we wait?” We might as well wait well.
Today’s question: How have you experiences a lot of waiting following your ministry downsizing or vocation loss? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “The big picture
