In The Midst Of Your Waiting, He Is Working

January 2nd. It’s the day when your alarm clock rings a little louder and more obnoxiously than usual. The day when a single cup of coffee just won’t cut it. The day that makes you wish you were still in college and had another week to sleep in and eat an undisclosed number of calories. 

Nevertheless, I woke up on that dreaded second day of the year and prepared to face the day. (Translated: By some miracle of God, I rolled out of bed and managed to pour myself enough coffee to shock me back to life.)

After I arrived at work, the morning passed pretty quickly, considering I had plenty of emails to catch up on and a lot of tasks to check off my to-do list. Sometime after lunch, my friend Elaine stopped by my desk. 

Over the past couple of years, Elaine has not only become one of my dearest friends, but has also been a wonderful mentor. She’s one of those people who speaks so much wisdom and truth when she talks to you, you’d swear God was using her as His own personal megaphone. Needless to say, I always enjoy a visit with Elaine. 

We talked about our families, our holiday festivities, and our new years resolutions to give up dessert for a while. Somewhere in the mix, we started talking about waiting. Elaine likes to say that I’m logging a lot of hours in God’s waiting room right now, and I don’t think there is a truer statement about my life currently. I can easily picture myself waiting in a big room, sitting in an uncomfortable chair, and perking up when I hear the loudspeaker come on, only to be disappointed when someone else’s name is called. It’s a visual that is way too relatable. 

So as the conversation progressed and I laughed about how God seemed to be taking His sweet time, Elaine brought up a quote she heard recently. It said:

“Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small; Though with patience He stands waiting, with exactness grinds He all.” - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Now, those of you who weren’t English majors (including me) are probably thinking, “Translation please!” Trust me, it took me a minute to get it, too.

What Mr. Longfellow is saying is that while God may seem to be working slowly, He is also working meticulously. He is grinding and refining every inch of your life in order to make it the best it can possibly be. Sounds fun, doesn’t it? Yeah I didn’t think so either. That quote reminded me so much of this passage in James 1.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (v. 2-4)

You may have heard these verses before, especially the beginning where it talks about having joy even when you’re facing trials. But pay very close attention to that last sentence. 

“Let perseverance FINISH its work so that you may be mature and COMPLETE, not lacking ANYTHING.” (emphasis, mine)

Our God doesn’t do anything without a purpose. He wouldn’t be orchestrating things this way if there wasn’t a reason. He wouldn’t be making you wait if there wasn’t something worth waiting for. He is intentionally and purposefully working on you because He has an intention and a purpose for your life. 

I don’t know about you, but when I think about it that way, it makes this waiting season seem a little more bearable. 

Now, if you’re at the point where you don’t want to wait any longer, you do have another option. You could take the easy way out. You could cut God’s refining process short and cut to the chase. You could take things into your own hands and make things happen the way you want them to. With enough manipulating and finagling, I’m sure you'd figure out a way to get your way. 

But let me warn you. If you take that route, I can pretty much guarantee that whatever you end up with won’t be nearly as wonderful as what you could have experienced if you had trusted God’s timing. Trust me, I’ve been there. His will for us is nothing short of His absolute best. Wouldn’t it be a shame if we missed out on that just because we didn’t want to wait any longer? 

Sure, waiting sucks. It’s not easy, and it’s not fun. Not to mention the whole grinding and refining process isn’t exactly the most enjoyable experience. But if I’ve learned anything while I’m standing in the thick of a waiting season, it’s that I can have hope that this grinding and refining that God’s doing in my life is going to be worth it. Whether or not I end up getting what I’m waiting for, or if I get something completely different, all of this will be worth it, because God’s best is worth it, regardless of what it is. So, if that means I have to log a lot of hours in the waiting room, then that’s what I’ll do. 

I would much rather wait for God’s absolute best, than rush past God and get anything less.