We belong to “Generation Now.”
People expect everything to happen now. Society believes that everything should happen within a split second of when they want it to happen.
I am just as guilty as the next person. I turn my computer on, which probably only takes thirty seconds, maybe a minute. I start to open my internet browser and I’m able to check my e-mail, Facebook, Twitter and fantasy football teams within another minute or so.
Within 5 minutes, I can travel the entire world and learn just about anything I could ever want to know.
But when it takes longer than usual to do all of that, I freak out.
I remember (and I get I’m not that old) when the internet required a “dial-up” connection to get to the internet. Sometimes that took 10 minutes or more. Then moving from site to site took HOURS.
The point I’m trying to make is that we have become so used to not having to wait for anything. We now live in a world that delivers almost every desire to our front doors (still waiting for Starbucks to deliver).
When we do have to wait on something, we get angry, irritable and frustrated.
We have no clue what to do with ourselves or how to handle these situations. God tells us that we need to “consider it all joy” when we encounter various trials. Moving past getting upset when our waiter or waitress takes a little longer than usual to bring us our food, or when you have to wait at an extra-long red light while driving.
I’m talking about when you hear that you are not what a company is looking for in a potential employee, running out of money at the end of the month and waiting for your next paycheck, waiting for a loved one to get better from an illness or waiting for the next chapter in your life to finally begin.
Whatever it is, God wants you to choose joy when He puts you in a time that requires you to wait.
Choose to be happy, find amusement, be delighted and rejoice.
Consider it a treat when you have to wait on God’s timing because it means that He is working on something great for you or your life. I think God gives us some time in our lives to sit and wait on purpose.
He knows how busy our schedules are. He also knows when we might just need a break. Waiting on Him and His timing could be a great opportunity to focus and strengthen our relationship with Him.
I encourage you to choose joy the next time you encounter a time that God is asking you to wait. Whether He’s asking you to wait an hour or several months. He has a plan and He knows what is best for you and ultimately WHEN it is best for you.
We are always wanting, seeking and expecting life to happen now. Instead, we should want, seek and hope for life to happen in God’s timing and find the joy that waiting could bring to our lives.
During these times of waiting, read Psalms 139:1-18 over and over again.
Trent Fugitt 