The Waiting Game

We've all heard "patience is a virtue" and "be careful what you pray for, especially when it comes to praying for patience." I'm going to be honest here because I haven't prayed for patience for a reason. I don't have much of it except when it comes to kids and I don't like being in situations where I have to exercise it. I appreciate and value this trait in others and as hypocritical as this sounds, we try to teach this to our boys. However, whether I like it or not, I'm having to learn to be patient, especially in our situation.

I was asked today what we are going to do and my own response really surprised me. I don't know if you have ever said something and after it came out, you think, "did I really say that?" That is what happened to me because my response seemed so unlike me. I guess it shows how God is changing me through this experience because my first response would be to list out a very well-organized, thought-out plan complete with a "Plan B" and "C" if the original plan didn't work. However, what I said was not rocket science but rather something that I don't know is taught enough in churches today or valued enough by Christians. My response was, "We are going to wait and see what God does!" WHAT?! "Wait!" That sounds passive and lazy.

Let me explain....

We are going to continue looking for a job or jobs. We are going to keep our house on the market. What we aren't going to do that we would have in the past, is just react. I will explain what I mean by that in a minute. Somewhere along the way, people thought that if you were DOING something you are surely being productive. Wrong! It is kind of like the hamster on a wheel analogy... the hamster never goes anywhere but he sure is working hard and moving. We've heard a lot of advice but one piece of advice we haven't heard much is just wait on the Lord and He will make it clear. In our situation, that doesn't mean we are going to just sit on our front porch drinking sweet tea and waiting for a job to land in our lap. Waiting is actually a very active process.

We honestly have no clue what the NEXT IMMEDIATE step is. When I mentioned we could just start reacting, we could have a knee-jerk reaction and start making decisions out of fear or stress. For the sake of example in our case, we could drastically mark down our house and practically give it away because we are not seeing activity but even doing that isn't going to necessarily allow it to sell and we just don't have a peace about doing this TODAY. I know that doesn't make logical sense given our financial situation, but we are learning that even though we are in, to say the least, a stressful time, we have found that God will give us an unsettling or discontentment in our spirit when we need to act on something and those undercurrents in us will not disappear until we act. Then He will give us a peace when we obey at those times when He has spoken and DOES want us to ACT!

We've found over and over again that we must be content with the way things are, even if our situation is very much out of our comfort zone. So given this true example in our case... for TODAY, we should keep the price the same because we just don't have a peace about marking it down. Emphasis on TODAY, because God is choosing to show us what to do literally day-by-day and step-by-step. So for TODAY, we know what God would have us to do, and sometimes that is waiting... However, tomorrow all of that could change if God impresses something else on our hearts.

It is so hard to plan for tomorrow or for the future when you have no idea what that looks like so even though it goes against my very nature and I want to just react and make a decision, I'm HAVING to learn to wait until the next step is revealed. That next step may result in a job here which will make it very clear what we need to do. However, it could also result in a job somewhere out of state which would then shed new light on a decision like our house. Of course, someone could come tomorrow and look at our house and make us an offer that is way under our asking price and after much prayer, we will go ahead with selling it once we've been given the green light from God. See, there are so many unknowns and so many different ways the future could look so for TODAY, we have to make decisions based on what we know TODAY and what God has shown us TODAY not what we "guess" tomorrow could look like.

For me, when this all began, I was looking at all kinds of options and trying to think through the best financial scenarios for us but I just kept having so much stress and anxiety because I didn't know which direction to go because each financial decision could drastically impact our future. It was during that time, that I know God told me to focus on TODAY and make decisions on what I know about TODAY and leave the rest to Him. That may seem unwise and at one time I would have believed that too, but I know based on the peace I have and what I see unfolded day-by-day that this is right for us and until God gives me a glimpse into His vision for us, we have to operate by this principle.

As we think through everything, we were reminded that WE sometimes limit God's power. God gives us common sense and certainly expects us to use it, but He doesn't need our simple-minded efforts for something in our lives that needs to take place to happen! In our case, for our house to sell, He is capable of orchestrating the selling of it without us even having the "For Sale" sign in our yard. We are not literally going out there and pulling up the sign, but you get the point.

We know we must do our part, and do everything in our power to enable action... I just get tickled when I think about my own efforts on how I believe at times that I can "help God out," as if He needs it!

As difficult and frustrating as some days are, God has not shown us where we are to be located in terms of a job or where we are to reside tomorrow. We are in this house today and the means have been made available to this point to make that possible which is HUGE in and of itself! We know that God is choosing to reveal the next step in His timing which will allow us more clarity to make other decisions that must be made. But for now, we continue living each day one day at a time and waiting for God to provide or reveal our next move and then acting in obedience based on what He says.

The waiting game is not a fun one but a necessary one. It develops patience, endurance, perseverance, and faith. It is painful and takes great restraint not to just act because it makes us feel better or gives us some sense of being in control. Waiting means trusting and that involves making conscious decisions which results in deliberate actions. While it makes us feel good when we have a plan, sometimes waiting is part of the plan even when it isn't our plan!