The Dance of Waiting

Waiting…
Waiting…
Waiting…

I asked my brother Phil a few weeks ago to help me understand the concept of humility in a new way. He said, “Humility is the act of NOT taking a step into the land until God says go. Pride is saying, ‘I’m ready God. I am going to go.’”

I have been studying people in the Bible lately who jumped the starting gun of God and the consequences are always pretty harsh. Saul lost his kingdom, and Moses didn’t get to see the promise land. Waiting on the Lord is pretty important.

So the writers conference neared and I kept telling God, “Okay God. Maybe I am not ready to have my book published. I don’t want to force this.”

The day before the conference my WFTJ meeting’s topic: Waiting on God.

I get to the conference. The first speaker and pretty much all the speakers afterwards talked about waiting on the Lord.

Okay. I get it, God. I get it!

No, I don’t.

Adrian Rogers once said, “Timing is more important to God than probably time itself.”

The Bible is full of waiting on God verses. My favorite one currently comes from Lamentations 3:24. "The Lord is my portion. Therefore, I will wait on Him."

I like that one because it gives me a reason to wait. He is my portion, my piece of the pie. In effect, He is enough. He will fill me just as I am today, right now, this moment. If I let Him.

But here’s the rub. Waiting is painful. Waiting goes against my way of doing things. When I wait, I am not in control of timing. That is not easy.

In my fairy tale fantasy, I wanted an editor at the conference to look at me and say, “Wow, Robbie. You are better than anyone I have ever read. I happen to have a contract in my briefcase. Can we seal the deal?”

I have a great imagination. Full of vanity.

Instant gratification did not attend the conference. Waiting came to every meal, every class, every appointment.

I left the conference with tremendous hope, but no publishing contract. Once again, I keep walking through this process and I wait. And wait. And wait.

But do I believe in God? I mean really believe in His existence and power? Is He the Living God of my life? If I say yes, then His timing is perfect. My timing is flawed.

So I wait.

I sit at the stoplight and watch the colors and see when God will turn it to green.

The real lesson is how I handle the red light. Do I sit and complain? Or do I take the time to tell Noah a joke or pray for someone or just enjoy the view?

Hmm…

Tomorrow – the joy of acceptance and the sting of rejection…