“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, and they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31
Impatience can be an ugly characteristic when not harnessed with kindness and compassion. I’m in Bellevue, Washington to attend a conference. Traveling always provides such wonderful opportunities for people-watching and people-meeting. This trip has been a tad more eventful than I prefer. I arrived at the airport with a more than reasonable amount of time to get through security, find my gate and a snack, and get writing done before boarding. Or so I thought. The line for security wasn’t particularly long. It just didn’t move. For nearly an hour. When motion was finally gained, it was at a pace best described as molasses dripping down a tree in North Dakota in the wintertime…. Fast it was not. All around me people were displaying different reactions to the delay. Some were staying occupied with phones and calls. Some were showing outward displays of their exasperation – as if the rest of us didn’t understand and could do anything about it. Some were making friends with their line neighbors. Most were simply quiet as they waited. What a pleasant choice of response. I stood there, trying not to bounce in place (I simply cannot stand still for more than 30 seconds), singing that day’s theme song in my head and trying to remember not to start singing out loud. As the minutes ticked by, I was exceedingly conscious of the reality that my plane was already boarding, and I might miss my flight. A lady near me was watching her own flight updates on her phone and trying very hard to stay calm. We had a quick bonding moment over our potential day-changing misfortune. I was impressed that despite her obvious anxiety at feeling helpless to change her circumstances, she was smiling, upbeat, and hopeful. We found ourselves laughing at the possible need to do the mad-dash through the airport to our respective departure gates. Sure enough, we found ourselves on the other side of security at the same time and she took off in a surprisingly graceful manner to her gate. I could have run, but the airport was so crowded it would not have been effective. There was a moment of contemplation. How do I act in this moment? Thankfully, speed walking is a skill I possess, and my departure gate wasn’t very far away. Through the crowd I went… and quickly realized there was nobody near my gate. Not a good sign. As I approached, there was one stewardess at the counter standing in front of a closed door. My heart sank. We all know that once that door is shut, you are not getting on the flight. It’s too late. I’ve seen enough movies to know better than to plead and beg with the lady trying to do her job. Might as well accept the reality that it’s time to make a backup plan. I approached the lady and asked her where I go to schedule another flight. She looked confused for a moment and started to tell me she couldn’t help me. I told her it wasn’t a problem, let her know I was supposed to be on that flight, had underestimated how long security would take, and asked if she could tell me where to go in order to get on the next available flight out. She paused for a moment and then said three beautiful words: “Come with me.” SHE LET ME THROUGH THE CLOSED DOOR!!! To say I was gushing over here would be a smidge of an understatement. What a pleasant surprise!
Fast forward several hours, one book read, and a lovely taxi ride and I arrived at my hotel. When I walked in the lobby, the sight was not the normal for a hotel lobby. There were people sitting in every available seat with their luggage, and a long line waiting for the front desk personnel to assist them. Turns out, Washington had a massive power outage from a storm. Over half a million people were without power for around two days, including this hotel. The power had been restored early that afternoon and the hotel staff were madly dashing about trying to get rooms cleaned and systems updated so they could check in the guests and provide access to their reserved rooms. The staff were being pleasant, though obviously strained. They were providing room keys as fast as the rooms could be cleaned and prepared. I found a place so sit that was near the front desk and spent the next several hours listening to the conversations between guests and the hotel staff. Generally speaking, the guests were grumpy and unsympathetic. Several guests were criticizing the staff and hotel to each other for being disorganized. One guest called the staff shady for disappearing into the back office for a little while (we later learned they were fixing the reservations in the computer in private to ensure they didn’t double book anyone). Over the course of my eavesdropping, I learned a few things. The managers of the various crews were all on sight, cleaning the rooms. Think about that. Instead of sending their staff to do jobs that were not within the scope of their normal positions and allowing themselves to do the more pleasant jobs. The leaders of the hotel were all in the rooms helping the maids clean. This included the maintenance manager, the maid’s manager, and the office manager. As fast as they could get a block of rooms cleaned, they would communicate those room numbers to the front desk staff who would then provide keys to those guests. I was struck by how many people were so set on getting where they needed to be, so uncompassionate to the reality of the situation, so stuck on what they wanted (reasonable expectation set aside), that they were making poor decisions about how they were treating the people around them. I felt like I was in a giant Snickers commercial and wished I could walk around and hand people a Snickers so they could revert back to being lovely human beings. For myself, I empathized with both groups of people. I was sitting on a lobby couch, shivering from cold, with no wifi, and very little to keep my mind entertained. Not my favorite either. But did the waiting really hurt any of us? No, it did not.
How often in life do we get so caught up in the need to be busy that we fail to see the value in waiting? Commercials and advertisements program us to obtain things the moment we want them. Next day shipping and same day orders have provided a norm for us that no longer includes waiting. There is value in waiting. I’m not the most patient person, I like to move fast and get things done in a timely and efficient manner, I’ll freely admit it. But I am learning that sometimes, a season of waiting is what I need. There are no verses in the Bible about living life at the pace of a mad-dash. There are 101 verse that talk about waiting.
Mexican food is my favorite food genre for one simple reason (I learned this from my foodie father): instant gratification! I do love instant gratification. But when we live life only expecting instant gratification, we lose the skill of being able to wait. The skill of making ourselves delay gratification. Of pondering a decision a little longer, turning it over in our minds, and truly considering the outcome before proceeding. We lose our ability to sit with a thought, an idea, a concept and mull it over in our minds. We lose our ability to sort through emotions in a healthy manner.
As much as I’m happy with my choices on this trip for holding my standard for how I treat other people, I’ll admit I’ve recently failed pretty miserably on how I handled having to wait. It’s not easy to sit with my thoughts, decisions, emotions, desires, dreams and upcoming opportunities. I want to rush to them. I want to get there and get there now. There’s no room for second-guessing when I’m rushing headlong into a decision. There’s no time to consider if it’s truly the best thing to be saying ‘yes’ to at this moment in life. I want to book the flight, I want to have the adventure, I want to skip the awkward getting-to-know-you and go straight to connection. I want my chips and salsa!
How often do I do rush through decisions and life events when the Lord would have me wait on Him? How often do I alter how I am acting because I am choosing frustration and anxiety at not having my immediate gratification? How often do I miss the confidence of a God-blessed decision because I ignored His prompts to slow down? God wants us to wait on Him. To learn how to sit in the silence, to be still and know that He is God, that He is in control, and He wants to bless our lives. More than that, when we wait on Him, we renew our spiritual strength in Him. We gain confidence in knowing we are making decisions that please Him, in knowing we are choosing wisely; in knowing we are acting in a manner that reflects well on our Savior. Waiting when you didn’t plan on waiting can be frustrating. Whether its unexpected delays on a trip, how to respond to an unpleasant circumstance, making a financial decision, a career or job change, or a relationship, take the time to wait. Take the time to sit with the decision, to reflect on it, to hold it up to the light before God and know that it is a good decision.
A few verses on waiting:
“Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.” Psalm 25:21
“Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.” Psalm 27:14
“Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.”
Psalm 37:7
“For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.” Psalm 37:9
“And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.” Psalm 39:7
“Because of his strength will I wait upon thee: for God is my defence.” Psalm 59:9
