I haven’t met that many people that enjoy waiting.

Correction.

I haven’t met any people that enjoy waiting.

I spend a good chunk of my day waiting: in lines at the grocery store, in traffic on the freeways, and on the other end of the phone line to get a human instead of a computer to come process my credit card payment.

Typically, I am impatient. I have places to go and children to feed and a to-do list to complete. My time is a precious thing, and I hate it when people waste it…especially those companies with automated phone systems.

Sometimes there is more at stake when we’re waiting. We’re waiting for an acceptance letter from a college, a meeting about a job promotion, a call from the doctor with the results. There are some pretty big things we have to wait for: to find Mr. Right, to have children, to make a career change.

Sometimes the waiting seems like too much too bear. We get worried, tense, and short-tempered with our friends, spouses, and children. We do unhealthy things to pass the time…eat too much, drink too much, shop too much, sleep too much. Worry too much.

How can we bear it? “When God?” we demand. “When will you come to me with some answers?” we pray. We lose faith when we aren’t granted answers, when we aren’t granted sight.

So often I’m waiting FOR God, so that my life can “start” or return to “normal.” I question him, his faithfulness, his timing. But I’ve begun to realize that during these times of waiting, he doesn’t just want me to wait FOR him.

He wants me to wait WITH him.

Our God is gracious. He has already answered the greatest question of your life: what happens at the end? He has sealed up your salvation in Jesus Christ. In heaven, all our waiting will be worth it, all our questions will be answered, all our waiting here on earth will be worth it. In the meantime, we have some waiting to do.

Some of our questions will be answered this side of heaven, some will not, but we can take comfort in the enormity of the answers we have from God. Wait with him in this day. Find peace and patience in what you know. God is with you. He makes everything good in its time. He has equipped you with all you need along the way. His timing is perfect. Everything he gives you comes at precisely the right moment and not one second too soon or too late.

Waiting can be a good thing when you have the right company. I can’t think of any better friend to wait with then Jesus.