It was around 2:30 am when I woke up wondering when I’d find out if an insurance claim I recently submitted was going to be approved. I had finally gathered all the required documents they asked for and had submitted it a day prior. Now I had to wait. Ugh… Waiting. It’s just not easy much of the time. I had to ask God to help me be patient and trust that He had everything under control. That’s when it occurred to me that we spend a lot of time waiting. 

We wait in line at the store as the person ahead of us has issues with their credit card. We wait days for the call from the doctor we just saw after sitting 90 minutes in the area designated specifically for waiting. We wait for our vacation to finally get here. We wait to find out if we got the job. We wait for the news about how our parent did in surgery. We wait on hold with the cable company after service went out again. Goodness gracious! We do a lot of waiting. 

As I laid there contemplating this realization, I wondered why waiting vexed our beings to such extent. Then I wondered what we could do about it. That’s when I came up with (or more likely the Holy Spirit kindly gave me) an acronym for “wait”:  While Anticipating, Invest Time. So I pondered what we could invest our time doing as we wait. The following 4 things came to mind…

W.A.I.T. — While Anticipating, Invest Time:

1.  In prayer:  Ephesians 6:18a says, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” Well, that’s fitting! That means we can pray in any waiting-type-scenario, while in line, on the phone, at home, work, the gym, wherever, and whenever. We can also pray for whatever. For example, maybe in that moment we need help with patience, or understanding, or remaining calm. 

2.  In being still:  In Psalm 46:10a, God says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Maybe there are times that we get too worked up in the waiting process. In those moments, we can take a step back and simply be still with God. Take the focus off of the thing we are anxiously lingering on, and fixate on Who God is. 

3.  Practicing grace:  Ephesians 4:2 says, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” If we make this a tagline for daily living, even in the slightest of moments, this scripture can change our state of being. By humbling ourselves and gently and lovingly putting ourselves in the shoes of others, maybe we can keep ourselves from creating stories in our mind for what is taking so long. 

4.  In giving it to God:  In Matthew 6:34, Jesus says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” So instead of worrying amid the wait, trust God with it and know that He has a perfect plan that includes the perfect time for it to happen. 

Maybe next time we are in those mysterious, blank waiting periods of time, we can fill in those spaces with something else. While Anticipating, Invest Time in prayer, in being still, in practicing grace, and in giving it to God. Basically, we can simply W.A.I.T. while we’re waiting.  

Pray with me: Father, thank you for making Yourself so available to me at all times with anything and everything. Help me to have such trust in You that I am able to wait for Your answers. Help me to not only accept the fact, but to even find peace with the fact, that sometimes Your answer is yes, sometimes it’s no, and sometimes it’s wait. Thank You for Your continued presence, especially amid the waiting periods of life. I love You.