Most days if I ask my grandson to do something, he will say wait!  When he says that to me I can become frustrated, because I am generally in a hurry trying to get him moving and out the door.  When it happened again yesterday, it got me thinking about how we as people handle waiting.  All of us have periods of waiting in our every day.  It may be at the Department of Motor Vehicles, the grocery store, the doctors office, or waiting in line for an event.  It could be that we are waiting for a loved one, results from a test, or for our next vacation.  At times, we are waiting upon God.  We are waiting for an answer to prayer or for God to intervene on our behalf.

     Waiting offers us both challenges and opportunities.  Most of the time though, I believe that we get caught up in the challenges.  As I shared, we can become frustrated and impatient.  We want to get on with it, we have things to do.  Depending upon what we are waiting for, we can be filled with anxiety and uncertainty.  There can be so much emotional energy being spent, that we can have a tough time seeing anything else that is going on around us or in us.

     Waiting does have a potential upside though.  There are opportunities and possibilities, if we take some of that waiting time to notice.  A period of waiting may have hidden possibilities if we could spend time watching and looking for them.  What would it look like if we could take those moments of waiting and flip a switch, that would allow us to appreciate that time?  If we could develop an openness in those situations, what might we see? Periods of waiting can be places of rest for the journey.  They can be times to cultivate an awareness for God and others.

     The Psalmist in Psalm 46:10, calls us to stop and to notice.  In that verse, God says “Be still and know that I am God”.  I believe that this is the key to our ability to flip the switch, and move beyond the challenges that we run into while waiting.  Next time you find yourself in a period of waiting, flip the switch and begin to notice the possibilities before you.  Take time to question and to savor what God might be doing in your life.  Ask God how to use the time of waiting.

     How are you at waiting?  What do you notice?

Picture: Reflections at the Lagoon, by iragerich