Everyone talks about the hustle, the go-out-and-get-it-done-mode. But what if that still small voice is telling you to wait? Are you a crazy person? Are you being lazy to just wait? Perhaps.
I mean, I don't know you personally, but often that still small voice is God trying to tell you something.
There's a place for hustle. But there's also a place for waiting.
Here are 4 things I've learned in waiting for some Good Things to Arrive into My Life:
1. Like a toddler who can't have his favorite toy right away, there will be tears.
Yes. There will be tears. AND IT'S OKAY.
Let's get passed this weird thought that crying makes you weak. I'd rather release the stress out of my body than hold onto it and inherit illness.
So with that said, You will cry and get frustrated and be tempted to throw a prom like pity party. But DON'T. Allow yourself some tears. It means you actually care about the good thing you are waiting for.
Plus, our tears are never wasted material in God's eyes. But rather, something very, very precious to Him. And I find that tears keeps our own hearts soft and not calloused towards ourselves, God, or people.
2. Surround yourself with hope-filled people.
We all know that misery loves company. And gossip breeds like weeds, ready to choke out the life of the offender and the listeners.
So make sure you have a good core of people (1-3) that encourage you and remind you of your own heart and your own hopes and dreams when you forget yours or when you rather jump ship regarding the thing you're waiting for.
No one achieves success on their own. No one.
It's been said that you are the average of the 5 people you hang around the most.
Um. What. Can we just let that sink in for a minute.
Okay.
So if these people closest to you are not reflecting the very best of you...you may delay the good thing that is trying to get to you.
Mind you, there may be a Judas in the pack, but they should definitely not be the majority of your closest friendships.
3. Others will most likely get that good thing you've been waiting on, BEFORE YOU. And it's imperative you learn to celebrate with them.
If you can't, I can promise you that bitterness is ready to snatch your little heart up and make you look and feel like an 88 year old full of regret before your time.
And when you're unable to celebrate the victory of others, you display a sense of emotional immaturity. Showing that you're not quite ready for your good thing to arrive.
Because you see, good things, while they are for us, are not meant to stop with us. They are meant to flourish and be shared.
And if our heart's intent is solely selfish, God has such a tender way of softening our hearts and motives with His love.
Learning to celebrate someone else's victory with a sincere heart (fake smiles don't count here) will free you up in the long run.
But look, I'm not asking you to fake it out. I want you to be honest with God, and tell Him that your heart, your pride, your whatever is hurt while in the midst of celebrating someone else's victory if that be the case.
I find when I'm this real and honest with God, He somehow does what my dad would do in real life when I was a young girl. My dad would often take me for frozen yogurt. TCBY to be exact.
It was my favorite thing to do with my dad.
We didn't have to talk or anything. My dad just knew that I needed a pick-me-up. That something was weighing on my heart and I just needed something good, something sweet.
I find that God continues to do this in my life. Whether someone sends me an encouraging email out of the blue, a sweet comment on my blog or Instagram, gives me a free dessert on my tab, or simply offers to give me a hug. I take these "TCBY" moments and I hold them dear.
God knows.
He knows.
You good thing will still arrive on perfect time.
4. It's all about timing.
One thing I've learned the most regarding waiting, is Timing is truly everything.
Has this ever happened to you?...
You're at the mall, and you randomly bump into a friend you haven't seen in years, a co-worker, neighbor or someone you were just thinking about the week prior?
Or...
You go on vacation, and you start chatting with a random group of people, only to find out that you all have a mutual friend in common?
Do you ever think of all the variables that have to fall in place for such an encounter to actually happen??
I mean, with our little mall example, the stop light had to change green at a certain time. Your parking space had to be so many minutes away from the front door in order for you to bump into your co-worker, neighbor, or long lost friend at the right time. Not to mention the variables at play with the other person you ran into!
But then, you realize that encounter didn't just reconnect you briefly with that person, but sparked a domino effect of either memories, dreams, stories, that would then begin to flavor the rest of your day from there on out. Perhaps some things that you needed to pay attention to in that particular season of life.
I've noticed that God truly does know the beginning from the end. And He knows all the different variables at play and what will be playing when your blessing is meant to arrive.
If you had gotten your dream job 5 years earlier, you may not have had time to pour into that new relationship that God brought your way.
And if you had gotten your dream relationship 5 years earlier, you may have been deterred from walking out some key life and career paths and experiences that God had been inviting you into, let alone, growing in emotional maturity, being ready to love your future beloved well.
This is one of the hardest lessons I've learned regarding waiting. Trusting the timing of God. One that I honestly still struggle with.
But as I look back on my life and the opportunities that have been afforded to me and the miraculous and perfect timing of those things coming into my life, I can't help but trust God with my romance story.
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And with that said, I simply invite you to do the same... To wait with expectancy, to cry when you need to, to allow yourself to be surrounded by encouraging and hope-filled people, to celebrate the victories of others, and to trust that God's timing is at work now even when you think nothing is happening.
Don't worry, my friend. Your good thing was always, always meant to arrive.
Wisdom's Knocking:
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,
who does not change like shifting shadows."
- James 1:17