The Answer With No Answer
I'll be the first to admit it.
It really used to bother me when God said "wait" especially when wait was the last thing I wanted to do. I would rather an obvious "yes" or "no" answer because then I have a clearly defined answer.
But the answer "wait" could end up being "yes" or could end up being "no" which leaves me with an answer with no answer not to mention that the answer "wait" always comes at the time I REALLY want an answer and I feel like I am in a Mission Impossible the-bomb-is-about-to-go-off-if-Benji-doesn't-find-the-answer-in-10-seconds scene.
Ever feel like that?
I have before and I am currently learning how to view that answer from a different perspective.
There is a situation I am in now that I wanted solved you know...like yesterday...no that isn't quite true, I wanted it solved months ago but God has said "wait".
I have argued, pleaded, and demanded but the "wait" answer remains.
This road has been long and I am weary, so hearing "wait" when I hoped so much for a different answer has been difficult.
Then somebody said something that caught my attention. She said there was no point rushing to an end if it meant that the end ended up not turning out how I wanted.
Those words sank into my soul and two things happened.
The first was that I realized waiting was actually beneficial because it gives me time to prepare; to plan; to grow and to carefully guide my steps down the path God is leading me on instead of racing forward to an end decision because I feel pressure (from myself, circumstances, or others) to get to the bottom of things right here and now.
The second is that God's ways are certainly not mine but they are always for good. All throughout my life I can look back and point out times God said "wait" and without fail the outcome turned out better because I waited on God when He asked me to instead of forging ahead on my own. It doesn't matter what the answer is after "wait" because I see how God uses the waiting time to help me grow wiser and stronger so that when the answer comes, I can handle and treasure it. The answer may be everything I asked for or be not at all what I want but either way I know it will work out for my good because in the waiting God has shown me His faithfulness and power time and again.
There is a sense of freedom and peace that has come since I have embraced the waiting instead of fighting it. Don't get me wrong, I have patiently waited before but this time is different. Now I am not just waiting in subdued resignation but in vibrant hope. When the woman said those words and I really stopped to take in the meaning, it was a defining moment for me. She wasn't trying to be profound but God used her to speak to me. God was trying to get me to rest in Him; to fully trust that He has this whole situation in His hands and I can know beyond a doubt that He is working just as powerfully in the waiting as He is in the answers. He wanted me to realize that He has things for me to learn and do while I wait and that is where my focus needs to lie. I let my weariness and present troubles create tunnel vision on getting the solution I wanted to the point that I was missing all the other important details God was weaving in my life.
No more.
Now I have a peace and it is freeing!
God has said wait and so I am waiting on Him in active faith knowing He will renew me with strength. "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." Isaiah 40:31 KJV
Do you feel like you have been given the answer with no answer in the form of "wait"? Then I hope this post encouraged you! Hugs to you from a fellow waiter. ;)
