On pause

I used to think I was quite a patient person. But I’ve realised increasingly in life this is not the case. Waiting for Instagram to load, waiting in the queue for the self-service checkout (former life), waiting for lockdown to end (current life), I’m in a perpetual state of impatience…

In this moment where we’re all in a time of forced waiting, there will be countless things in our lives that are on hold. Dreams that feel like they’ve been parked, events we were banking on that are postponed, so many elements completely frozen… It’s made me think about waiting.  

What are you waiting for? What has God put on your heart that you’ve not yet seen come to fruition?

The Bible is filled with testimony after testimony of waiting. Abraham waited for 25 years before  God’s promise of a son came to pass, Moses waited 40 years in the wilderness, Jesus waited 30 years before starting his public ministry. What we have to remember is God is doing things in the waiting.

Like a potter that’s forming an intricate vase, or a couture dress that takes a whole team 800 hours to make, God uses the waiting to refine us, mould us and to get us ready for what is to come.

There are lots of blessings in my life which if I look back, I wouldn’t have been ready for if God had given them to me instantly when I first wanted them. We don’t know when God will fulfil what He’s put on our hearts, but we do know that God’s timing is perfect.

I once read that every ‘not yet’ from God is wrapped in His love and glory. He knows us. He knows us fully and completely – like that friend that can spot straight away that something is up. He knows what He is birthing in you, teaching you, growing in you. If we give up in the waiting or if He instantly handed us all we’re dreaming about, we would miss out on the blessings of preparation. If we don’t press in and lean into what he is challenging us with in the waiting, we miss out all the abundance of growth. Like if we were a pot that thought we were ready before we’d been in the kiln and glazed.

Esther spent twelve months in waiting, soaking in perfume and oil, beautifying. Waiting builds out our character beautifully, making us trust God more and more. Maybe there are other things in the world or in other people that have to shift before He fulfils that dream in you.

You are walking in the testimony that, one day, God will use in you to tell others. God’s not in a rush. This season of waiting is not your whole story. But God is in it so keep trusting, keep pressing in and keep holding on to the promises and visions he’s given you.

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him”. 1 Corinthians 2:9