On Waiting

D' is playing basketball on this little team thing. He has practices twice a week and a game on Saturday. I love basketball, especially when it's kids playing. Very entertaining.

Last night was team Photos. I had to drive thru a snowstorm to this seemingly random high school where every child in the league was waiting in the hallway with their respective parents. Kara was there with her son, who is also on the team. We huddled on the floor against the wall and watched everyone else waiting.
No one had a clue what was going on.
The children were hyper. You've been in similar circumstances; haven't you? A mass of humanity....waiting. It's like the lines at Disneyland, only with fewer costumes.

Kara and I were jokingly speculating that it could be what Hell is like. Loads of people, aimlessly passing time. Only, Kara reminded me, Hell would be warmer. We were freezing. Therefore, where we were might be worse.

Waiting sucks. Especially when we're not sure what we are waiting for.
God is all about waiting. It's good for us, apparently, much like suffering.
"Those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength..."
"Be still and know that I Am God..."
"Wait on the LORD..."
You know the drill.

A thought struck my brain this morning, like a flash of brilliance. It was in this little devotional called Streams in the Desert. So, don't be thinking that I got all brilliant on my own.

Anyway, the thought was about how very often God has to wait on me. I know the difficulty of waiting on God. Sometimes I have to wait for Him to act, and sometimes I have to wait for Him to speak. Most of the time I don't have a clue what I am waiting for. It's all very trying on my limited supply of patience.
But, it had never occurred to me that God often (How often!) has to stand patiently by and wait for me to follow whatever distraction has caught my eye. There He is, with a whole plan and I get muddled up in something time consuming and useless. So He stands and waits until I am ready to give Him my undivided attention again.
Frankly, I think God probably has to wait for me a heck of a lot more than I ever have to wait on Him.

This is a big realization. If I can keep hold of this thought, perhaps it will give me more stamina when I am waiting for God to do something. Perhaps, (and this may be too much to hope for) but perhaps I'll be more mindful of how I am affecting Him the next time I am tempted to become distracted.

How Patient He is!