In The Waiting
I hate to wait. No one likes to wait, right? If you do, I would really love to hear what you enjoy about waiting. Waiting just stinks. Maybe it is the world we live in now, with so much immediately available. Between our smartphones and Amazon Prime 2-day delivery, we literally wait for almost nothing. Or maybe we just never got past our 4 year old selves impatiently waiting for whatever we were demanding.
A while back I taught a 2 and 3 year old class for our church we called Bee Buddies. The lessons all centered around Bee Kind, Bee Loving, and Bee Patient. For the Bee Patient lesson I always brought cookie dough. We would lay it out on pans, put it in the oven, and then do a short lesson while we "patiently" waited for the cookies to bake. It was hard! Their little minds could not move away from those cookies. They wanted to peek in the oven and see if they were ready. Even when they were, they would reach for hot pans and cookies and had to be distracted away. If we are being honest, aren't we all that way at times? We rush to things that may not be good for us because we just cannot wait.
Waiting comes in many forms and, at some point in our lives, we all wait for something. We wait for school to end, to find true love, for children to be born, and then for them to grow and, at some point, we probably wait for them to come home again. We have the short waits like standing in line at a theater and the long painful ones such as waiting on medical test results, or the return of loved one from military service.
Months ago, this topic kept coming up for me. It came up in a devotional reading and then again in a conversation with friends. I kept hearing songs and being reminded of verses that spoke about waiting. The idea for this blog started to churn around in my mind but I kept putting it off for one reason or another. Then suddenly there was this global pandemic known as COVID-19. Now we are all waiting.....
My book loving daughter said it best when she said she felt like we were living the first few chapters of a dystopian novel. Anyone else feeling the strong desire to flip to the last chapter and see how it all ends? I do not believe anyone alive has been through anything quite like this. I certainly have not seen anything like it in my lifetime. There is very little we can do but sit, and wait, and watch to see how it all turns out. Our control has been completely taken away.
My first thought was that there is just no manual to help us through this situation. The mix of emotions being felt worldwide is unprecedented. Then I started to recall all the lessons I had been receiving the past few months on patience and waiting. Turns out there are at least 7 words between the Hebrew and Greek that translate to wait or waiting. Kind of sums up all the different ways our waiting looks through this time. Verses like Lamentations 3:25-27 " The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that the one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. " and Pslam 40:1 " I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry." all speak to the value of waiting with patience on the Lord to work. The fruits of the spirit include patience. Obviously this was a lesson God wanted us all to know. He knew throughout our lives we would need this skill. Has anything ever tested the patience of humankind as a whole? Well, there was that time between Malachi and Matthew but there was no media or, even better, social media to remind us constantly of the state of the world.
There are a lot of ways we can look at this time. We can focus on the fear, or the unknown, or we can choose to be still and wait with patience. We can use this time for solitude and searching. We are being forced to slow down and take stock in what matters most. I have been most encouraged by the images of families gathering around a table for games or snuggled together on the couch for a movie. Our parks are open and free to get out in the sunshine and take a walk. Remember to keep your distance from others but do smile and wave. We all need that right now. Rest, and breathe and take a break from the rapid influx of information from the media. Stay informed, but then turn it off. Take care of yourself. Laugh. It is OK to find the humor. I am personally loving the stories and pictures of many or the new fuzzy co workers and their lack of professional office behavior.
To the moms and dads homeschooling while working from home, you are doing great! Hang in there and remember the kids need some rest too. Downtime and playing with their families will help them and you. To the teachers missing their students and learning on the fly how to teach remotely, you are our heroes.The creativity and love of learning that brought you to this profession is the very reason you were brought into these students lives at this place in time. Do not lose heart and we pray you will be back in your classes soon. Finally, to those on the front lines and your families. We are praying constantly for your health and safely. We pray for a strength beyond your understanding as you work tirelessly to keep us safe. We pray for peace for your families as they watch you head out the door into this unknown.
I am starting to come to the realization that Easter is going to look very different this year. It is unlikely we will be celebrating this precious time with our church families. As this realization is taking hold, I am reminded of the first disciples on that first Easter morning. As the sun rose they were hiding in a room somewhere in terror of what would happen next. They did not yet know the truth. We may be isolated in a room on that morning but we do not have to be in fear. We already know the tomb was empty. We already know who conquers and will prevail. Rest and be still in this time of waiting.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight." Psalm 3:5
"Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous." Psalm 27:14
"But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience" Romans 8:25
"But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles: they will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:31
