If you're like me, you struggle with one of the most simple tasks life has to offer. I want a lot of things, and I know that they will likely come to fruition later, but I want them now! If that's you, I feel you, and I've been learning to become a good waiter. While I'm still not great at it, I've learned some great things to remind myself of along the way that might help you too. - This blog topic came to me during church today as we talked about waiting and I thought it was a really good sermon topic, so it must make a good blog topic also, haha!
Whether it's waiting for a few hours/days or knowing that the waiting is going to be a good decade or two away, I hate waiting. I am currently in college and I'm ready for it to be over so I can be at a job making money and saving to provide a future for my future family. I'm ready to be leading an organization because I'm passionate about leadership (I hope you see that reading these) and I want the opportunity to bring about the best in people. I also am tired of waiting for January to come around because I get to go to Florida with some friends. Even sitting here, I'm ready for it to be 6:00 so I can be playing volleyball with friends. I am not a good waiter at all.
While that seems normal to us, the truth is that it's extremely unhealthy for both our heart and head. If we can't learn to wait, then we essentially have no sense of hope. When we become good waiters, we become hopeful people who long for something more. So, how can we then learn to be "good waiters" in our waiting?
(I just came up with this acronym while I was writing this blog, so if you don't like it, just know it was a really quick thought and if you have something better then share it with me and I might have to make a change and give someone some credit.) Good waiters know how to TAP into hope during their waiting.
T - Truth
A - Affirmation
P - Practice
Truth: I think the first step to being a bad waiter is believing the lie that there really is nothing better coming. I know the times that I find myself being impatient in my waiting is when I am telling myself the lies that XYZ will never happen. However, when I have XYZ in mind in a way that they feel within reach or I can see myself achieving them, I feel the hope of something better and the waiting, no matter how long, seems to be a peaceful waiting instead of a discouraging one.
Affirmation: Once we understand the truth that better days are coming, it's then important to speak it over ourself, or continue to make statements of it. When we stop doing this, we tend to lose sight of the truth that was originally bringing about peace in our waiting and discouragement starts to take over. I am learning that I kind of have to be my own warrior against my thoughts, and even though I feel smart for just recently learning that, I could have just taken Paul's wisdom in 2 Corinthians 10:5 and not had to figure it out the hard way. Bottom line here is to constantly remind yourself of the truth. If you don't, doubt will creep in and your peaceful waiting will surely turn to discouragement.
Practice: Like anything, perfect practice makes perfect. I am finding that the more I practice understanding the truth and speaking it over myself, the more I find myself being a good waiter with loads of hope for the future. The waiting doesn't get any faster (though that would be nice) but it's much easier going when the waiting is in hope instead of anxiety.
Don't fall into the trap of being an impatient and anxious waiter. From personal experience, it will at the very best reap bad habits for your life. However, when we learn to be hopeful waiters, we tend to make good habits that lead us to the destination we would otherwise be anxious we may never reach.
If you're waiting, work on waiting well. TAP into hope and feel your dreams turn from if's into when's.
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