James Tissot Quiet

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him. Psalm 37:7

Patience is not a natural virtue of mine, and yet, it seems the one God most ardently wants to build into my life.

When I was single, I could hardly wait to get married. Then I waited to get pregnant. Then I couldn’t wait until my children slept through the night. Then, I couldn’t wait until they were all out of diapers. Waiting for them all to be beyond naps. Waiting for them all to read. Waiting for them to learn how to do chores, to pick up clothes, to develop manners, to quit fighting.

Waiting for the teens to calm down emotionally, and waiting for decisions about life, college, marriage, money, and it goes on and on. Just fill in the blank of what you have waited for in your own life.

Somewhere amidst all of this impatient waiting, I realized that I could miss life if I just waited for a season to pass or something to change.

God, however, seems to be more concerned with the process, the shaping of my own soul in the midst of the daily steps of life. His fingerprints and common miracles are all around me every day. However, my spiritually blind eyes do not see Him or hear the whisper of His voice and wisdom unless I engage my heart in His omnipresence every second, at each turn of life.

How crucial to know the delight He gets when I trust Him and praise Him each day, the faithfulness of my own servant heart for my family, amidst the mundane moments, the gathering of grace, love, gentle instruction, laughter, joy crafted in the midst of the moments that God has granted.

How much time I have wasted when I was waiting for a season to pass so that I could “get on” with life, when God is strategically using those moments to stretch me, to make me more unselfish, more compassionate, more humble. He even plants all sorts of joy and humor through the antics of my loved ones, if I have the eyes to see. Every season and every moment and every day is a soul-shaping season for my heavenly Father in the life of me, His child. He is more concerned about my response to acknowledge Him, and accepting with grace these moments along His ways, in the midst of the wait, than He is concerned about me getting my own way.

Most of life is making it faithfully through the seasons and issues of life. But the glory of a spiritual woman can rest on her ability to bring the beauty, joy, perspective, thankful heart into the presence of the waiting. For this child, this circumstance, this season is His gift to me today, but only becomes so if I accept it with a thankful heart and live each moment that is given fully, joyfully and by faith.

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