{Be Loving} How to Withstand Waiting

I ask myself this questions a lot: “what can I…do?” It echoes in my heart as I see crisis all over the world and crisis right in my own backyard. For a lot of us, we are where we are without much control of the situation and our scope of influence is often somewhat fixed.

We can feel pulled to go to the Nations, to tell unreached people groups who Jesus is and how He’s the way to the Father. We can watch documentaries, see our friends who have committed their who lives to missions, and feel that yearning in our hearts. Let me be clear: that is a GIFT and an amazing one. It doesn’t automatically mean though, that you are leaving tomorrow or even in the next five years.

If there is one thing I have learned over and over but still need to remind myself over and over is that God’s plan and timing supersedes mine always. Sometimes He almost seems urgent when other times He seems overly flexible but always He is right. If He tells me to wait, I need to. If He tells me to go now, I need to.

Feeling stuck and waiting can seem just so dull…you know you’re going somewhere in blank amount of months, or you know you’ll be graduating and moving onto bigger and better things, or you’re going on a mission trip this summer but it’s still winter and the months are dragging on and on. Sound familiar?

Well in the meantime, there is SO MUCH life to be had!

“Love looks like something. Love looks like stopping for the one. Loving the one in front of you.” – Heidi Baker

Our time waiting can be oh-so-useful. I could go on and on telling stories of the wild things that have happened leading up to the months before I went off to college thousands of miles away when I could have just waited around for my “real life” to start.

Well guess what?! Your real life is NOW.

“Stopping for the one” is something I want to adopt more and more. We can feel so insignificant and small at times but there is great power and significance in what it around us. There are people hurting all around you – people who need to be shown the gift of God’s love…His free grace, His redeeming mercy.

What does this look like?

1. First, be truly and fully where you are. This might sound odd but I know I’ve fallen into the trap of looking so forward to what was about to happen that I wasn’t present in what was going on around me. Counting down the days until you get to move on or leave because you are so tired of being where you are is not an attitude we should be quick to utilize. Be faithful to where you are. Celebrate where you’re headed but don’t forget to celebrate where you are.

2. Next, don’t be afraid of slowing down a bit. Since love is truly action, we need to live out love. Stopping for the one requires us to, well, stop. Observe. Act. This could look like sitting with someone who’s eating alone at lunch or handing out sandwiches to the homeless with a group of friends. Ask The Lord to give you His eyes for the lost to help you see those around you in desperate need of Him. 

3. Last, we need to put away timidity and fear. We are clothed in strength in dignity and it’s about time we claim it! Going up to someone whether it be at school or the grocery store can be intimidating and scary but fear is not part of your inheritance (2 Timothy 1:7). Boldness is in you to carry His love as light to everyone we come in contact with.

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You might feel like your life is overly ordinary and routine. Don’t let that discount what God can do though you. Your “ordinary” life can be used in ways you can’t imagine. Our purpose doesn’t come from doing extraordinary things or how many places we go, our purpose is in Christ first. Be faithful to where you are. Keep going.

Love can cost us everything. Our time, money, resources, strength. But I will not offer up to the Lord that which costs me nothing (2 Samuel 24:24). At the end of the day, love can cost us everything, but LOVE is what sets us free.

Last summer at a training school, a speaker suggested, “go until God says no.”

I like to carry that attitude now. Go up to those people, go volunteer, go to the nations, go share His love. Be ready and willing to go just as much as you are ready and willing to wait. Listen to Him; let Him guide you. Starting can sometimes be the scariest thing but He makes it so accessible – just think about all the people you see in one day who need Jesus.

Start there.