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Waiting is evidence of faith in Christianity. It’s a spiritual discipline people must foster for spiritual growth.
Although waiting is a common occurrence in people’s lives, rarely do they prosper in the inactivity.
In between instant and delayed gratification, it’s without a doubt that people would favor the former. Regardless if the delay promises better outcomes, they would rather enjoy a lesser upshot if received instantly. Perhaps, it’s human nature to go for promptness as it’s rooted in survival. The faster the pleasure and resources come, the safer and more secure people become, while the delay is commonly associated with agony and the possibility of missing out.
It’s innate to avoid waiting. Hence, nobody can honestly blame people for rushing and thriving in the hustle. This creates a dilemma between Christianity and religiosity.
While society makes everyone restless in the waiting, encouraging impatience and immediate demands, God works differently. He wants people to thrive in the waiting, to foster this patience and trust as a spiritual discipline.
What Does the Bible Say About Waiting?
To the public’s eyes, waiting is merely perceived as a pause, a disruption in people’s routines and goals. However, the Bible defines waiting as something beyond the lull. People may be blindsided by its purpose. They perceive it as an interruption of their plans. But they fail to consider that perhaps, it’s the plan. Often, God wants people to wait.
He has purposely disrupted their lives to make way for and prepare them for a more meaningful existence. This inactivity may culture within people uncertainty and even frustration if anything is truly bound to happen. But to hold faith and believe that God will never fail those willing to wait is the spiritual discipline the Scripture aims to convey.
In The Land of the Promise, the third book of Thomas Sheets’ trilogy, the author alludes to what the Bible communicates as the Christian life. Christians are introduced to ten virgins waiting for a bridegroom. Five of these women were wise, but unfortunately, the others weren’t. At the end of the day, only the former met the bridegroom and got invited to his banquet. The others’ failure was due to their impatience, and how they had to run errands they failed to prepare beforehand.
Beyond preparedness, Thomas Fitzhugh Sheets chose this parable to emphasize the importance of patience as a spiritual discipline. Although the parable’s events significantly differ from what modern Christians would have experienced today, the message remains relevant.
If there is an opportunity to wait and trust in nothingness, have faith, and rely on God.
The bridegroom stands in place of God, and as the parable unfolds, blessings will befall those who patiently wait for His presence. He is worth waiting for.
Working on This Spiritual Discipline While God Works
What makes waiting so agonizing is the silence and emptiness during it.
This pause makes people question if something will happen, intensifying the would-be regret if nothing does happen. This agitation and anxiety make people forget how the spiritual discipline of waiting and patience benefits people. Nothing might occur during the process, and people might not receive anything throughout. But the benefit lies in what people incur within. Waiting leads people to exercise faith, submission, and a better appreciation of the blessings that will arrive later.
God wants people to follow and lay down doubts in complete submission to His will. This uncomfortable and miserable stillness is His way of freeing and liberating people from their burdens.
People might evade the waiting game, with their instincts calling for promptness. They might feel angry or anxious when things turn to stillness, and nothing seems happy. Welcoming and feeling these emotions is alright in God’s eyes. But people have the choice of whether they’ll react to these emotions or take matters into their hands.
Do people foster this anger and anxiety, or will they let God lead?
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