As an outsider, these phrases feel super sweet off the tongue. A sense of spirituality comes from telling your friends and family to "remain calm" and "be still." "Better days are on the horizon" because well it's them and not you.
But everyone eventually goes through seasons of waiting in anticipation of a next career move, academic move, starting a family, owning a home, a clean bill of health, or perhaps finding our purpose because we just don't know. Moments often arise that stop us in our tracks/knock us straight off our feet (we're talking back on ground, toes to the sky).
Then in shock reality is questioned because things usually go our way or even better but never worse. At least for a long stretch of time, now nothing's lining up. No interviews, no call backs, no university acceptances, one "we regret to inform you" letter after another. Stuck in the drought of singleness for what seems like a decade you don't know if it's you or them anymore. Life is looking dreary.
That's that season of waiting sweet honey child. A season that can last anywhere from 3 months to 3 years and then some. However long it takes, it's here and it has happened for a reason.
He also calls us to do things in the midst of these growing pains. Things we never wanted to do and possibly never thought to do otherwise. Some are called to practices of self improvement in their singleness. Some are called to acts of service and side jobs during gap years or ministries of hope and faith in infertility. It really could be anything and it's the passion God takes out of it, the trials and tribulations He ultimately uses for His glory and our good. You ask and He'll give a yes, a no, a later, or this first.
"Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart," they say (Ps. 37:4) Well for how long?
It's possible today or in the near future that the desires of your heart will become your callings, keep them on your vision board and shine your eye. Things can play out in different forms while still being what you asked for. At the same time focus on the calls presented in your current season. What are you currently responsible for and working on? Even if you're lost and it's just you right now. Your calling surrounds you. If you've been waiting for what seems like forever, broken and picking your pieces off the floor...welcome to your season dedicated to the rebuild most likely to be bigger and better than ever.
Adding to this list of slightly overused phrases, have you ever heard "delayed but not denied?" In your waiting did you also believe you were already prepared in that very moment? Because God may not have thought so. Patience is truly a virtue and impatience could be damaging. Back when you wanted that object or opportunity did you ever assess if it was BEST then and there? Ever reflect on your timeline and what you currently have and notice some elements to your life fit a lot better when you actually received them as opposed to when you originally wanted them?
If you've always gotten everything you've wanted when you wanted even into your adulthood then I guess never mind on that last point... how does it feel being the universe's favorite? lol jk.
Thinking of COVID currently, how many of you started as restless beings never wanting to stay still? A quiet life was never for you but instead it was the buzzing around never actually listening to your surroundings and only hearing them? You've now had to learn to how to slow down, sit down, and be content in listening. How many of you had to reconstruct your life completely because of this? Essentially the pandemic has forced a majority of us into synchronous seasons of waiting. With the exception of a select few who have managed to keep the ball rolling and not miss a beat, it's not their season no need to compare lifestyles.
"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end." (Ecc. 3:11) "In its time" not on ours.
Remember that waiting is not a punishment. Nothing positive or productive comes from comparing your life in its inevitable season of waiting with another individual's appearing to have no stops. Social media does a great job amplifying the joy and hiding the struggle which leaves those in waiting to feel like failures. As normal as highs and lows are people frequently forget.
Also it's extremely possible to wait and live. It's purposed that way. You're meant to embrace the detours and the live out the reason for that season. I always say FIND THE PURPOSE. Before you know it your mind has drifted away from what you've been waiting for in the first place. Time flies when you're... etc... etc, you know the rest.
In Philippians 4:11, Paul wrote, "... I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances."
In the wait, we have a choice: we can either feel sorry for ourselves and allow fear and frustration to ravage our state of mind, or we can turn our focus on what's being done in our lives while we wait, rely on our faith and be grateful.
I've learned never to doubt God's creativity and resourcefulness when it comes to my story. Behind the scenes He's always been up to something. Whether it's placing people or opportunities our souls needed on the path we never would have been subjected to going in the direction and at the pace we wished. Or maybe in picking up a new skill to enhance our resumes just a smidge before sending it off to the next employer.
Seasons of waiting are never chosen but they can always be flipped and used to help us learn and grow, so long as we are perceptive and receptive.
Things to do while you wait:
Find the purpose. You don't necessarily have to move around with a flashlight looking for this thing just be aware of what's keeping you busy. Often it finds you but live in it once you realize it.
Surround yourself with people who have gone through their waiting seasons and are on the other side happy as a dog with two tails. Being able to power through is easier said than done when it's you. A good motivational story could do the trick in lifting your head up as the storm passes.
Work on yourself, strengthen your faith. Waiting sucks period point blank but it also presents its own opportunity to trust in the sovereignty of your higher power whatever, whomever you believe in.
Acknowledge this season in and of itself is a gift. It may take some time for the acceptance of that but even in hindsight comes appreciation.
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