Waiting. Who likes that?
Be patient! Ugh! Don’t tell me that!

Face it, we are accustomed to getting what we want in mere seconds and we fret and fume if it takes longer. We can Google for answers that used to take a trip to the library, browsing through the aisles for hours. We can cook a meal in minutes in the microwave that used to take half a day.

God doesn’t succumb to that time schedule, though. He’s not Google, instant pot, or microwave, and sometimes, we have to wait for His answer to our needs and requests. That’s all up to Him.

What’s up to us, however, is what we do in the waiting. Do we fret and fume, or do we live in peace? Do we fuss about everything, shaking our fists at the Almighty because He isn’t bowing to our whims, or do we wait patiently?

The author of Psalms 130 wrote these words from the depths of despair. Life was not good. Everything seemed dark, dismal, and impossible. And yet…

He declared that even so, he would wait patiently for the Lord to answer his prayer and work in his life. He stated that his soul waited expectantly for the Lord.

Do you see the different parts of this declaration? First he slows his body and his actions. He chooses to slow down and wait patiently. Patiently: in a way that reveals a tolerance for delays, problems, without becoming annoyed or anxious.

The second part is that his soul waits expectantly. His innermost being is waiting with excitement that something is about to happen.

What if we stopped feeling as though situations depended on us and our control and we released them to God to then wait patiently and expectantly for Him to act?

Would we be less anxious? Would we be less depressed? Would we be less stressed?

Or would we be more alive?

Coffee, Bible, Journal.