I hate waiting. I’m terrible at it. It’s probably the thing I’m worst at. I’m hugely impatient. Whether it’s waiting for dinner to be ready, waiting for a train, waiting for the adverts to finish or something on a slightly longer scale – waiting for a holiday, for example – I struggle. I’m a natural fidget-er. A typical “gen Y”, playing on my phone while waiting for the next stimulus.
We all have things that we wait for. Growing up through school and university, and into my professional qualification, I seemed to spend a lot of time waiting for exam results. Waiting for my letter to hear if I’d made it into university was a tough one too! We wait to hear about interviews, about whether or not our offer on that perfect house has been accepted, or even just to know if our favourite dancer has made it through to the next week on Strictly. Today, as I write this, a lot of us are waiting to find out what will happen on Sherlock. There can also be waits where the end result has the real potential to be devastating, such as waiting for test results from the doctor. If you’ve read 2 of my earliest posts (Thank you and God is not a fortune teller), you will know that my husband and I are in that monthly cycle of waiting, which so many of us go through.
At those times when I have no way to speed things along, no option but to wait, I try to turn to God for His support and His patience when mine has failed. There are some wonderful Bible verses that can give us hope in times of waiting. 
At Christmas this year, we were given a beautiful gift to hang on our wall – a heart with the word “Hope” written on it, and a reference to Psalm 27:13-14. “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”
Psalm 33:20 says “Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield”. Throughout the Bible we are given frequent reminders that we must wait and that God will help us while we do so.
Talking to God as I wait calms me. He helps me to receive some perspective and, crucially, to know that I will have His support and His love regardless of the outcome of my waiting. Whether the result is all I could have hoped for, or utterly devastating, God will continue to hold me up and to work good things in my life. I’ve experienced both of those extremes. God has given me things in my life that make me happier than I could ever have hoped. My husband, for example. But last year we also had a truly heart-shattering experience, and God still helped us and supported us. He showed us His goodness in other aspects of our lives and taught us how to smile again.
At times it can feel like we are waiting but not hearing anything. We can feel forgotten by God, especially in a time of need. My father gave me a wonderful Bible passage that I think all those who wait, afraid that God is not going to answer them, should read. Psalm 13 – it’s not long so I’ve included it here:
How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall. But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.
God triumphs. We know that. It has happened. When we turn to God and ask for His help, we are already on the winning side. We have to wait. And the short-term outcome of that wait might be painful. But eventually, in God’s time and in line with God’s plan, good things will come. Romans 8:28 starts “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him”. So wait, but do so with God by your side, speaking to Him and taking your strength from Him.
And I think there is one thing we should all wait on, one thing we should practise waiting on, as often as we can. God’s presence. Set time aside just to wait. Don’t play with your phone or find a way to occupy yourself as you do so. Instead just wait. Ask God to come to you and wait for Him. Last Easter, or rather Lent, I didn’t give anything up. Instead I set aside an hour a week, either on a Saturday or Sunday, put on some calming music, and sat there, waiting for God. And every week, without fail, He came to join me. We talked about the future, about the people I love, about the world, about me and about Him. Sometimes it took a while to find Him. Other times He seemed to be waiting for me to start – ready to go as soon as I sat down. Sometimes He was a force to be reckoned with. Other times it was harder to hear Him. But He was always there.
So, today, that’s what I would encourage you all to do. Wait for God. Wait for His presence. Wait for whatever it is He has to show you or give to you. Wait with His comfort. Wait in His strength. And keep in your heart the most wonderful words of Isaiah 40:31:
But 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.