The Slow Work of Waiting

Most of us do not rejoice when we must stand in a long line at the supermarket checkout or when we pull a ticket at a government office and discover that 50 numbers lie between our current situation and our turn at the desk.

Waiting stretches us. It tests our patience and humbles us. It presses upon us the truth that the throne of the universe is occupied by God, not by us. If we’re honest, much of the frustration we experience in waiting results from wanting to take God’s place on that throne. We have a wonderful plan for our lives and wish that He would get on board, and we struggle to see how a different plan, even one that comes from the mind of our omniscient, sovereign Heavenly Father, could possibly be better than the one we’ve drawn up. Why would He not provide employment right now? What could be bad about healing the sick family member or bringing about resolution in a situation of conflict?

Workers on the mission field struggle with this tension just as much as anyone else. Even before arriving on the field, we wait for funds or paperwork. Why would God not work out the details so that we can leave for the field soon instead of waiting around for months and months? Of course, arrival obviously does not mean no more waiting. Why is it necessary for us to spend so much time and energy waiting on visa renewals? What is gained by pouring ourselves into a friendship with a national, sharing the gospel with him or her, and then waiting sometimes years for the Holy Spirit to bring about heart change? Or perhaps we have great plans and desires for church-planting and spend years waiting on a national partner: Why would God not want a new church planted sooner? And why would He not provide a meeting space for that church plant as it grows?

That last one hits close to home.

God’s Plans Go Deeper

We’ve been involved in a church plant for two years that has grown faster than we anticipated it would; the long and seemingly fruitless search for a larger meeting space has left us discouraged many days. Why would God not want to answer these prayers? What could be bad about a local church body having enough room for the growing congregation?

Scripture tells us that the cattle on a thousand hills belong to the Lord (Psalm 50:10); we trust His sovereignty and believe that He rules over earthly authorities, bureaucracy, and the real estate market! Perhaps our frustration stems from an incorrect perspective. As previously stated, we desire to be on the kingly throne with our plans at the center. Expecting God to want the things we want and to be more or less a superhuman version of ourselves, we mold Him into our image and grumble when He graciously reminds us, either overtly or more subtly, that He is, in fact, the Creator and we the creatures.

We mistakenly assume that the only issues at play are the tangible ones we can see, and forget that God is working in a host of ways we cannot see. His plans go deeper, wider, and broader than we can imagine. God does promise to grow His Church, and praying about needs such as meeting spaces is an appropriate thing to do. He absolutely does care about the details of our lives, but He is more interested in growing us further into the likeness of Christ than in satisfying our every desire and working according to our timelines.

Cultivating the fruits of patience, humility, and trust in our hearts is the beautiful work of the Holy Spirit, but it isn’t a short-order, fast food type of work. This cultivation often requires a lifetime and myriad situations that nudge us toward, unsurprisingly, patience, humility, and trust. We need to be reoriented again and again to God’s rule and reign in our lives—not because we are unimportant or small in God’s eyes, but precisely because He highly values us as His precious children and has designs for our hearts that reach far beyond earthly things. When we wait, as we wait, may we wait with patience and even with joy as we humbly but confidently trust in the God who accomplishes all His purposes in His world and in our lives.