Waiting. Whether it's waiting for water to boil or a president to retire, waiting can prove to be quite tiresome and trying. Wait for the rain. Wait for the meeting. Wait for the beans. Wait for the garden to grow. Wait for electricity. Wait for shops to open, fires to start, cows to cross the road. The other day we were almost "late" for church because we had to wait for a mother turkey and her young one who thought it their personal responsibility to make sure we missed the beginning of the service. There's waiting for the internet, waiting for the ATM, I mean like 86th in line kind of waiting, waiting for the road to get repaired, the document to get signed, the truth to be told, the nurse to wake up, the doctor to be found, the chicken to be caught, the pork to be served, the tea to cool, Edimu to learn his letters. I could continue. As I write this I'm actually waiting for water to boil. And then I will wait for my porridge to cool. Did you know it actually takes 2 minutes for me to pour the entire contents of the kettle into the thermos? 2 whole minutes. Oh there is no waiting at traffic lights, but then there's the traffic jams that kind of make up for it. We had 6 doors made for our house in April. It's now October. Still no doors. We took the motorcycle for repair around the same time. We got it back last week, and yet we are taking it somewhere else to get it repaired again today.
Then there's the current thorn in my flesh, the water filter. I always promise myself as I put the empty water jug under the filter and let the clean water begin flowing that I will wait patiently nearby until it fills completely. I've even tried just sitting there staring at the thing, but then it takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r...Easier said than done. How many puddles have I left on the floor this week?? Let me not confess the exact number.
What am I trying to say here? We wait. Whether we like it or not, whether it's easy or not, convenient or not, it is a part of life. Now days we're not so bothered to wait because of the introduction of the smart phone. Chances are that you are even reading this blog because you are waiting for something..Though we can still get slightly annoyed, we can be busy then even while waiting. Last night as I was waiting for dinner to get ready, (it was around 9pm), instead of hopping on the smartphone (if I sit for a minute the mosquitos under the table and hovering over the couch wreak havoc on my exposed feet) I decided to go outside and watch the storm roll in. The sky was full of flashes of lightening, clouds you could see were dark even in the dark and a nice strong breeze (that thankfully kept the incessant little insects at bay).
I just stopped to take it all in. Beautiful, terrifyingly beautiful. And it wasn't like the Lord suddenly spoke to me and I had an aha moment. No. I just got to enjoy the beauty of the moment. Just being in that moment, it did something to my soul, it restored something in me that I can't explain. I write this to just encourage you to try to experience the beauty in waiting. Nothing is wasted by our loving Father, so even time spent waiting is not wasted, but can be used by Holy Spirit to teach us, to mold us, to speak to us, to use us to speak to others. There's a song that has really ministered to my spirit concerning waiting over the last year by Kristene DiMarco called, Take Courage. In it she uses a the phrase, 'He's in the waiting.' Yes. He is there. Even in the midst of the waiting, He is there. In this busy day and as we head into this "busy" season. Let's encourage each other to slow down, listen and just be. Just take a minute to look around you, really look around you, and you might be surprised at what you see.
