I CAN’T Wait!

Waiting, for anything, can give us a sense of uneasiness.  Often there is a sense of uneasiness because of the “unknown” factor.  We wonder what will happen? when will it happen? will anything happen?  We wonder how will it happen? Even when we know what will happen there is still so much  to “wonder about” that the uncertainties outweigh the known certainty.

There is a restlessness with the discomfort of waiting.  One of the definitions of restlessness is discontent or dissatisfaction that drives one to keep looking for solutions, alternatives, or new things.  One ancient writer wrote  of God “…our heart is restless until it finds its place of rest in you.”  

For many people, waiting is an awful wasteland between where they are and where they want to be.  Such a wasteland is not desirable and most people do not like it.  They want to get out of the wasteland by doing something, anything to extract themselves from being lost in the wasteland.  Could it be that much of the restlessness we experience is an unspoken, fervent desire to be out of this wasteland and to BE with and alongside of God?

In Luke’s Gospel Zachariah, Elizabeth, Mary, Simeon, Anna wait patiently because of what they were told.  All were gold by God, in one way or another, “do not be afraid.  I have something good to say to you.”  They are waiting for something new and good to happen.  The waiting in the first pages of the Gospel of Luke is waiting with a sense of promise.  The angel Gabriel was sent with words of hope and a pledge.  It is like a see that has been planted and started to grow.

We can see that this kind of waiting is active, not passive.  It’s not a hopeless state  where events are out of our control.  Those who are waiting in scripture are waiting very actively.  They are fully present in the moment, in the conviction that something is happening where you are tend that you want to be present to it.  A waiting person is someone who is present to the moment, who believes that this moment is the moment.

We know something good is happening and so we pay attention, fully present in the moment, with longing.  We wait with hope.  This hope is founded on our faith that God’s plan of action shall be done on Earth as it exists in Heaven.  

Much of the anxiety associated with waiting is because of fear. Basically the fear of failure, the fear of disappointment, the fear of dissatisfaction, the fear of loss, etc.  Living in Love can conquer fear.  Living in Love brings to Earth what awaits us in God’s timeless realms in Heaven.  Or as I like to put it, to live in Heaven start living in Love while you are here on Earth.  When we live in God’s love, God’s will has been done on Earth.

To hope is not just “wishful thinking”, a desire without any faith that it wishes can come true.  Such “wishing” is to rely upon something outside of YOU to act.  THIS can certainly lead to anxiety as it stimulates you to believe that your needs are met by your environment rather than you, You, or YOU.

No, the word hope is to have trust and confidence in something.  If you plant a crop you can have confidence that at least some of the crop will grow, that not ALL of the crop will just disappear.  When you place your hope in God you can be confident that God is wise enough and powerful enough to take care of the needs that are required to be met.