Well it’s the day before school starts. Ugh, sigh, grrrrrrrr … I can’t wait.
Can you tell how excited I am????
Really early mornings. Chaotic evenings. The dreaded homework. If you don’t have school age children right now, let me just tell you about the homework. I’m good with the reading, grammar and spelling – not much has changed there. But, the math. Oh heaven help me with the math. Common core is of the devil. It makes absolutely no sense and my only explanation for it’s existence is to make parents look stupid in front of their children.
You start with a simple math problem like 13 – 7 = ____. Easy enough, but under the equation there are 5 more blanks. I try to easily give my son the answer and he says,
“But, Mom we have to show our work”.
“What work?”
If I’m honest I’ve never liked to “show my work” even with the old, more sensible math. The answer is the answer, right? Who cares how you get it? (This is why I’m not a teacher). So here I am, googling common core, texting the teachers in my family and trying to save face in front of a 7-year-old.
As I feel my son’s confidence in me fleeting I whisper to myself, “it’s okay, science will one day be incorporated into his homework. Just wait for biology, chemistry and oh anatomy and physiology – I’m gonna knock that out of the park. I’ll name those bones and spout out medical facts so fast he won’t know what hit him. We’ll have a moment and he’ll forget all about the day I had to Google common core”.
But, for now, I will wait. I will Google. And, try not to rush this season this season.
Do y’all do that? Rush the season? Please tell me it’s not just me.
Do you get cranky and impatient when things aren’t happening as fast as you would like?
Does anyone else have a waiting problem?
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and guess that I’m not the only one. Maybe there’s someone else out there who feels the weight of the wait? The career that hasn’t taken off. The relationship that hasn’t happened. The baby. The healing. The promise.
I’m there right now. In a waiting period. I’ve had a few dreams placed in my heart, on my family, and even on this blog that lately seem to be moving at the pace of zero. I mean, I heard call. I felt the nudge. So, why the wait? God, where’d you go? I stepped out on a limb here. I took the step of faith. You were present when You called. Are you here in the wait?
To be honest, I should know how to deal with this by now…. the wait. I’m no stranger to this season. This isn’t new. I remember a time almost 7 years ago when I was sitting in a counselors office, waiting for healing in my marriage and I asked, “how long is this going to take? Give it to me straight. Let’s get this healing process on the road. Tell me how to fix it and how much time I should allow.” Well, he, the counselor, just laughed and said “it doesn’t work that way”. In essence he told me sit back and enjoy the ride.
What? Sit back? Are you crazy? Come on. This is not the 1980’s. We aren’t trying to sell ketchup here. We’ve evolved. We’re a right-now, convenient, instant kind of society. For goodness sake, I even buy my groceries online and have someone deliver to my door. It’s magical – almost like I have a fairy godmother. Enjoy the wait?
So, it’s no wonder that we instant maniacs have no idea how to wait. It’s not shocking that we treat God like a cosmic vending machine. We cram him into a box, give him our order and expect fast delivery at our convenience. And when he says, let’s just wait a little – come sit by me and rest (like he’s saying to me now) we give up and act like our prayers aren’t being heard. We begin to lose sight of the dream and question the cause. We become cranky and impatient. Have you been there? Are you there now?
So, what’s with this waiting thing? Can I get a little purpose please? Well as I was literally stomping out of bed a few days ago, I began to read a morning devotional. I’m really not a morning person, so a little Jesus before people is in everyone’s best interest. As you can imagine, God gave me a big dose of what I desperately needed and provided this little gem of a verse.
“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint”. Isaiah 40:31
I’ve thought a lot about the first few words of this scripture over the past week and wondered so much about the wait and what it really means.
Shockingly, the definition of “wait” does not involve misery, crankiness, or complaining. To wait means “to stay where one is”, “to remain in a state of repose (rest)” and also to “remain in readiness for some purpose”. Other translations use the word hope interchangeably here. Now I’ve never, ever, ever thought of waiting like this.
Y’all in this waiting period, God is not punishing you. He is not holding out on you. He has not forsaken you, your dreams or his promises. He’s sitting right there with you, waiting for you to wait upon Him.
He doesn’t want you to wait for Him like you wait at the DMV. He longs for this waiting period to be a time of rest while at the same time preparing and getting you ready for the next step. He urges us to put down the fight and trust him. This is a season to be looked upon with hope, expectation, and excitement because y’all keep reading.
“They shall mount up (soar) with wings like eagles”.
I’ve also done a little research about eagles. Although I could probably write a book about what Isaiah may have wanted us to know about eagles, there is one particular characteristic that stood out to me. Eagles, unlike other birds, use winds, described by some as storm winds, to gain altitude and soar. Some even suggest that they wait for winds coming off mountains and hills in order to catch updrafts so they can soar without having to expend their energy.
Now, I’m not gonna lie, I was raised Pentecostal and I’m not ashamed to say I thought I was gonna shout when I read this. Can’t you just see it? The eagle waiting at rest, preparing to soar, and expecting that wind to come and take him farther than he could ever go on his own. This is how to wait. Can I get an Amen?
So, in this season, let us stop wasting time waiting wrong. When God provides us with a time of waiting, may we rest and put our trust in him. May we allow him to prepare us for the next step and readily await his direction. Let’s stop the fight, quit the complaining, sit back and enjoy the wait. Because, those who wait will also soar!
~Mary Ann
maryannpence.com 