Delight In Waiting

Hannah (left) and her family celebrating a Christmas they didn’t expect to have together as a family of four.

Who would have thought that a free laptop sticker I received at ICOM 2017 would have led me to this moment? As a college student who was much more interested in collecting free merch than talking to a mission representative, I would not have thought that. After almost seven years and countless lessons learned from the Lord, there is one specific lesson the Lord has been teaching me while I wait on my visa to Ireland. There is delight in waiting.  

Now if you are like me, you are probably thinking, “Delight in waiting no way! Waiting is boring, hard, and just something to push through.”  One year ago, this could have been a direct quote from me, but now the Lord has graciously taught me how to do this through the way of lament.  

Let’s talk about a phrase I have heard recently, “the speed of delight”. It comes from the very holy and good work of a Credit Karma commercial. Throughout the commercial, the idea of the speed of delight is to do things faster to be more delighted in life. It shows a sloth driving a car, and he progressively gets faster through the commercial to do more fun things. The idea being the faster things happen the happier you can be in the long run. In today’s world, it is all about getting the things that are hard done fast, so you can go out and enjoy life. Why only wait, when you can be doing something else?   

Kona (Hannah’s dog) sitting in her chair "delighting in the wait".

But what about when we are waiting on the Lord? How good are you at waiting on the Lord? Do we like to push our own agenda into “His answer” so we don’t feel like we are wasting time? Do we get frustrated and angry when we don’t feel like God is answering us or when He gives us a different answer than we were expecting? Do you delight in waiting? Do we actually take time to stop and wait in silence for God to move and speak to us?   

If anything, this past year has taught me how bad I am at waiting on the Lord. Lament has given me a language to express my frustrations while waiting and turning back to the Lord to give Him praise and glory. Let me walk you through my stages of lament.  

Stage 1- Turning to God.

In the time of waiting, I felt a real wrestle with not having a lot to do with my time. I quickly realized this was the prideful thought of “if I’m not doing, then I’m not good.” How gross! My worth does not come from doing, but because of the grace of our Lord, He has called me his child. This humbled my heart to turn my attention back to the Lord and not on myself.  

Step 2- Cry out to God.

I brought my complaint to the Lord. Complaint has such a negative connotation in our culture, but it is seen throughout the Bible. It can be used as a reminder to us of the promises the Lord has made, while we are waiting for them to be fulfilled. More often than not my prayers of lament, start “Hey Lord, me again with the same questions as before, If you called me to Ireland, why am I not there?” Or this past month it has turned to “God if you called me and made it so clear I am to go, why was my visa denied?” I wrestled with the Lord because He made it so clear I was supposed to go to Ireland and gave me a burdened heart for the lost there, but yet I feel stuck in Greenwood, IN. And fun fact, Greenwood, is not Loughrea, Ireland.    

Step 3- The Request.

My request to the Lord may seem a bit obvious, but I modelled it after Daniel 3: 17-18. My prayer of request became, “God, I know you are sovereign over all governments. You can bring the visa approval any day, and I ask that you bring it soon. But if I must wait or if it is denied, I will still serve and worship you.”  I keep reminding myself of this prayer because it was hard to pray this way at first but now reminds me what I still should be doing; serving and worshipping. It kicks me off the throne where I have no business being and makes way for the Lord to be completely Lord over my life and time. It reminds me that He is the one worthy of glory, not me or my plans.   

Step 4- Renewal of Trust and Praising God.

My prayer of request points me directly to this step. I will still serve and worship the Lord. During this time, I am reminded constantly of all the hard situations the Lord has come through with me before. I am reminded of His mercy and grace that have been lavished on me in harder times than this. Lament brings peace that the Sovereign Lord of the universe is still the Sovereign Lord of the universe despite us living in a fallen and broken world.  

The Lord has shown me how sweet He is in waiting. Delight in waiting comes from being with the Lord and close to Him. This past year has been hard, but it is also one of the times I have felt closest to the Lord. I may not know what the future brings, but I know that I serve a God who is bigger than it all.