The state highway department recently completed revisions to the major artery to which our street connects. The new left turn lanes and smooth paving are a real pleasure. But not a pleasure is the new timing of all the traffic lights along that site. We can wait as long as 2 minutes to get a green light to cross that road or turn onto it from our little street. Two minutes doesn’t seem like a big deal until you’re sitting at the red light with no cross traffic, and you still have to wait.
We wait all the time: in check-out lines, for appointments, on hold with tech support, etc. The Oxford American Dictionary defines the word “wait” as to “stay where one is or delay action until a particular time or until something else happens.” That’s how I usually think of waiting. But a secondary definition is to “remain in readiness for some purpose.”
That latter definition seems much more positive, more intentional. I am currently waiting for my strength and full activity to be restored following recent surgery. Isaiah 40:31 promises that “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” (ESV).
If I wait remaining “in readiness for some purpose,” it seems more pro-active a waiting. I’m not just passively sitting around, waiting for the light to turn or my body to heal. I’m realizing that God has a purpose behind the waiting and that waiting is a time of preparation for His plan to unfold.
So, Lord, please keep me in readiness for the next step you have planned for my life.
The waiting is not easy, but I know it will be worth it. Thanks to God!
Marilyn, even in your “waiting” you serve as such an example of what relying on God in all situations actually looks like. I thank God for your continued recovery, your unwavering faith, and His love that shines through your life.
Love this! We can be like the ready writer waiting in anticipation for what God has to speak to our hearts!