Doesn't it seem like an odd thing to be thankful for? Waiting.. impatiently waiting. Yesterday, I got stuck in traffic on the interstate. I had gone out to run just a quick errand, so naturally I was very frustrated with stand-still traffic. I passed a sign that said there was an accident, but I assumed that it was just a fender bender. I was very impatiently waiting to just make it to my exit which was about 5 yards away, and I would even say that I had a touch of road rage as I got more and more frustrated.
What exactly was I so impatient for? What was it that was so important that I just couldn't wait another 15 minutes in traffic? I had gone to pick up one simple, little thing for my horse. That's not exactly an emergency, and absolutely could have waited. But I was so caught up in my own desires that I didn't even think about the accident or care about who had been involved in it. While watching the news this evening, I learned that the accident had been a rollover crash that killed an eleven year old little girl. Suddenly, all of my own needs and wants seem so miniscule and trivial. I had been impatiently waiting to get to a store, while a little girl is never going to be able to go to the store again. She'll never get stuck in traffic again. She doesn't have any more opportunities like I still have. The world around me is weighed down with so much hurt, and that is beyond my own frustrations with traffic. How can I be so self-centered about just making it to a store in this situation?
How can this be applied to faith? This past summer, I attended a different church than my usual, and the particular sermon was entitled "Waiting." The church was having a whole sermon series on waiting on God. The pastor spoke about how everybody goes through "seasons of waiting" and that it can be easy to lose faith and become frustrated with our situation. One particular phrase that caught my attention right from the beginning was, "God is not doing this TO you. God is doing something IN you." We all go through times of trial that test the strength of our faith.. I know I've had my fair share of those seasons. During this time of waiting, we need to ask ourselves how we can wait more patiently or how we can "wait well." God is doing something within us, and if we let Him, we can come out of it with a stronger faith and a greater outlook on life. So the next time you go through a period of hardship, frustration and waiting, rely on God and remember that He is working on you, not doing something TO you!
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