Waiting on God is not something everyone is used of doing. Usually, our tendency is to get ahead and do our own thing. We plan, we set lifetime goals and we embark on fulfilling these goals without even praying, asking or consulting God if what we have in mind are aligned to His agenda in our lives.
We wake up in the morning and the first thing that comes to mind is our daily dose of concerns -
What to eat at breakfast.
What to pack up for lunch.
How can we be productive.
Our shopping spree, bonding with friends, what best movies to watch, who like our pictures at facebook or what's the best tweet at twitter, and the list goes on.
WE FORGOT TO express our gratitude to our God for giving us another day to live. We forgot to ask Him to bless our day, to give us strength to whatever may come our way. We get ahead. Because we're impatient. We're so eager to do things our own. We are not at peace by just letting God guide us.
We fidget.
Just observe when we are at the waiting end. Say we're supposed to meet a person at 5PM. Before the clock strikes 5 o'clock, here are what we usually do:
- check the time
- five minutes before 5PM, we will be tapping our fingers or wiggling our toes or swaying our legs or pacing around (our way of channeling our thoughts)
- in another few minutes, we will be composing a text message, probably asking for the person's whereabouts (san ka na banda?). If no reply, we'll text again or give that person a ring
- when we get a response 'I'm on my way', most likely we will ask estimate of that person's arrival
- and then back again to tapping fingers, wiggling toes... now with exasperated sighs
I am not saying these apply to all, but I think most of us are (count myself as guilty sometimes!).
BUT GOD taught me better, to wait on things with patience. That there is no better way of spending waiting but to do it patiently.
I know it because I've been tested lately few times already. One instance was when I chose to wait for my boyfriend while he was taking his exam. He was supposedly out at 6 o'clock (PM). He was having a hard time completing his exam earlier than he could, so I had really no idea how long I will have to wait. But what surprised me was the patience and the calmness I had in my heart to just stay and wait, letting time passed by while enjoying being alone. I was never this person before, I so hated being on the waiting side. But as I said, God taught me better. You will never get to enjoy life if you are impatient.
I read somewhere and I reflected on it: Patience is not about how long you wait, it's all about how you behave while waiting.
A time spent waiting for something or for someone is never a waste of time and effort if you know in your heart this is how God wanted you to do, you will still continue your walk with a happy end in mind. You may not know what specific ending that is, but you know for sure that what God has for you is something beyond what you can imagine.
The behavior of waiting is tested and visibly seen on how we deal with small stuff - our daily routines, our daily small encounter with people, on how we react with small matters at hand - impulsive? always with sense of urgency? grumbling? Or calm and poise with surrender to God while having a strength and a positive character, with understanding and with a smile?
Just wait patiently, under God's grace.
No comments:
Post a Comment