Is It Soup Yet?

How many times have we as parents heard, “Is dinner ready?”, “Are we there yet?”, or “When is this going to be over?”. Being patient is hard for everyone, especially children. Most of the time it really comes down to boredom management, but that is a whole other story. Spiritually, being impatient can be a real problem. "Hurry is the death of prayer" is a well-known quote, often attributed to John Mark Comer, from his book The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.  I know the quote, sadly I haven’t read the book, yet. We often pray fervently, trust God, and look for the answer, yet spiritually tap our feet while we wait. The following is a mix of my thoughts and the musings of one of my favorite pastors, Dallas Jackson.

·       Trust – Once you give it to God, leave it there. He has a great memory

·       Patience – The waiting part. Being patient in a microwavable society is probably the hardest thing to do. Please remember that God is super-efficient. He’s not only working out things in your life, He’s intertwining events into a gorgeously complex interaction that affects many others. Who knows, maybe you are waiting for someone else to get up to speed. (It makes you think twice about obeying God right away, doesn’t it?)

·       Be in the moment (enjoy the journey) - Often the journey is half the fun. Sometimes it is the fun.  Don’t forget to notice the little things God is doing as He brings it all together.

·       God has our best interest in mind – Always remember that God is doing thing in our life to bring about the best result. I sometimes think we question God more that all the other “professionals” in our life (doctors, mechanics, remodelers). He knows what he is doing.

·       Noah was in the ark for over a year – Sometimes you have to wait for the flood to go down.

·       Do what you need to do while you’re waiting – Make sure you take care of your regular duties while you wait. By all means, rest, but don’t be idle when you have things you can do.

·       We don’t know the big picture – God is God and you are not. Don’t try to understand everything. Sometime you just need to go with it.

·       Don’t lose your joy. Watch for the butterflies 😌 – This goes hand-in-hand with being in the moment. Keep your head on a swivel and notice God’s hand at work.

·       Waiting makes us better. Lately we have been watching a lot of cooking shows at dinner time. The concept of resting meat comes up often. I’ll have to admit, when I cook, I am just hungry and want it now. Often, I tend to rush things. Maybe that’s why a steak from a good restaurant tastes so good. If you Google “resting meat” here’s what you find:

Resting meat after cooking allows the juices to redistribute throughout the meat, resulting in a more tender and flavorful dish. If you cut into it immediately, the juices will escape, making the meat dry.

 Waiting is hard no matter how you look at it. How we react to it makes all the difference. I hope this helps!