The Waiting Game

As seen in HEARTbeat and the Village voice

“The Waiting Game”

            Who among us are good “waiters?”  I don’t mean the kind of people who bring food to our table or take our dinner orders.  I mean the kind of people who are good at patiently waiting for something to happen.  Time seems to stand still when we are waiting on something we know will happen….eventually!  But why is that so?

            Benjamin Franklin is credited with the old proverb, “A watched pot never boils.”  The proverb is a poetic analogy that conveys the idea that time seems to pass more slowly when you're anxiously waiting for something to happen. It's based on the idea that watching a pot of water come to a boil takes a long time, and similarly, waiting for something to happen takes longer when you're concentrating on it. The opposite of this statement would be, "An unwatched pot always boils.”  You might say, “A watched pot always boils too!”  So, what is the difference between these two thoughts?

            We get anxious when we wait for something, and the “something” we are waiting on is constantly on our mind.  As many a soldier who has been deployed into a combat zone will tell you, the first couple of months are the worst.  I know I looked at the total time my unit was to spend “in-country” for the first couple of months, looking anxiously to the estimated departure date.  Then, as I told other family members who deployed after me, settle into a routine as fast as you can.  It is the routine of the day that removes the focus from the anticipated future date and refocuses on the tasks at hand, basically keeping yourself and those around you alive!  Then time seems to fly by.

            King David wrote many psalms.  David is described as a “man after God’s own heart.”  To be described in this fashion, he had to be seen as chasing after God.  If true, it begs the question, where was God leading him?  David went through many trials during his life.  He was not exactly the squeaky-clean king some make him out to be.  He lusted after another mans wife, then had the husband killed so he could take the woman as a wife.  Not exactly the Godly man we would imagine.  But David, many times, fell on his face before God and repented of his sins.  He opened his heart to God and experienced a wonderful relationship with his God, as is evidenced by the many wonderful psalms of songs he wrote.

            In one such psalm, Psalm 37:7, David wrote, “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.”  We all like success.  But we wonder how ungodly people can be so successful when we know our God is not their God!  When we patiently wait on God to carry out His plans for us, we will realize they are so much better than what we could have ever dreamed up.  And when we are still, all distractions of this world disappear as God surrounds us with His presence.

            Today, find some time in a quiet place to be still before the Lord, and truly listen to what He has to say to you, just you!  God will lead you, as He did King David to wonderous things!