Why Is Waiting So Hard?

Lent Devotional // Week 5

by Rev. Mary Lytle

Luke 10:38-42 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed––or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Consider This

A friend recently told me, "I decided I don't have enough patience for a kitchen. Takes too long for a pancake or two to cook."

Pancakes are a funny thing. If you work too hard, they become chewy. A few minutes of rest before cooking allows all the different parts of the batter to work together, creating lighter and fluffier pancakes. And after all of that, you have to wait for the pan to get to the right temperature and wait for the pancake to cook long enough so you can flip it over easily. I'm sure my friend would argue that there is nothing "easy" about flipping a pancake, regardless of how cooked it is!

If you are patient enough (and perhaps with a little intervention from the Holy Spirit when flipping), you'll have a short stack of beautifully light, fluffy, and buttery pancakes.

Why is waiting so hard?

We live in a world that is constantly competing for our attention. We have been trained to think that we must always be "doing" something in order to be productive. In fact, many of us have bought into the lie that if we are not constantly busy, then we are being lazy. When you couple that with our culture of instant gratification, it's no wonder we have such a hard time waiting.

Many of us have forgotten the art of stillness and waiting. Because, if we are being honest, the stillness forces us to see our flaws. It opens up time for reflection. It is uncomfortable.

So, we fill the time. We keep ourselves busy. We work even harder and faster and refuse to pause long enough to just sit in the presence of God.

What we have forgotten is that there is beauty in the here and now – the time that God is gradually refining and sanctifying us to be more like Him. God is present and working in the waiting.

Time and time again we see the people of God waiting. Joseph waits in prison for the cupbearer to remember his name. We find Moses in a period of preparation before being called to lead the Hebrew people out of Egypt. Hannah longingly waits for a child that she will eventually dedicate to the Lord. Elijah spends time by the brook Cherith before he travels to Mount Carmel. Jesus would eventually spend forty days in solitude before entering into public ministry.

Periods of waiting are not times that we are being held back from fulfilling a purpose. Rather, they are opportunities for us to surrender those things we hold with a clenched fist. Places where we can reflect and allow the Holy Spirit to touch areas of our lives that need to be redeemed. Where we are given the chance to meet God and sit in His presence as the Spirit strengthens us for what might lie ahead.

We should embrace the waiting. Instead of only focusing on what is next, let's seek God in the present.

Whether you're waiting for your pancakes to cook or feeling stuck in a season of life, let me encourage you to take that time and seek the presence of God. Ask God to reveal how He is working and moving around you. Perhaps you need to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal areas in your life that still need to be surrendered.

However you spend your time of waiting, spend it with God.

Prayer

Father God,

Why is it that I think I must get somewhere, assume some position, be gathered together, or separated apart in the quiet of my study to pray?

Why is it that I feel that I have to go somewhere or do some particular act to find you, reach you, and talk with you?

Your presence is here

In the city – in traffic, at the workplace, in my travels, at the hospital, in the waiting room; at home – at dinner, in the bedroom, in the family room, at my workbench.

In the waiting.

Lord, reveal your presence to me everywhere and help me become aware of your presence each moment of the day.

May your presence fill the nonanswers, empty glances, and lonely times of my life. Amen.

– Adapted from A Thirty-Day Experiment in Prayer by Robert Wood

The Question

When do you feel like the waiting becomes too difficult? Are there times throughout your day that you find yourself getting impatient or are you in a season of life that seems like it will never end? How can you begin to surender your waiting to the Lord? What is the Holy Spirit asking you to surrender? Reflect on how God is asking to meet you in this place, today.