I am not very good at waiting. Patience is definitely not a virtue of mine. In fact, to be perfectly honest, I struggle daily with my lack thereof. But it does seem like I’m always waiting for something. Last year I took the plunge and decided to get braces at 40 years old. The orthodontist said my treatment would take 16-18 months. That didn’t seem so terribly bad at the time, but as the days and months have drug on, it seems like I have been waiting forever for the final reveal. I still have at least another 3 months to go, and so I must wait.
One of my least favorite things to do is to wait in line. It seems like such a monumental waste of time. I know it is a necessary part of life, but when I am waiting in line all I can think of is everything I am not getting done. I also hate, hate, hate red stoplights. Could be because I’m always running late to appointments, but that’s beside the point.
I’m sure all of this impatience is partly a result of my perfectionistic, task-oriented character. I am a to-do list type of gal. I function from my to-do list, and if life gets in the way of my list, I can get really impatient. It’s something I have struggled with my whole adult life.
Do you remember the phrase – Please be patient with me, God isn’t finished working on me yet? I feel like that has been and maybe will always be the motto for my life. I am a work in progress – God’s handiwork. He’s always teaching me something new and making me more and more into His image. I am learning that waiting is not always a bad thing. In Micah 7:7 the Word says, But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. Like the prophet Micah, I desire to watch and wait for the Lord. Maybe one day I can say that patience is a virtue of mine. In the meantime, I will wait upon the Lord.
They who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. – Isaiah 40:31
