Modern
Day Samaritan Woman
Professional
Wait ‘ers?
We
all go through various seasons in our lives, at different times, for some of us
the seasons pass quickly from one thing to another thing and for others the
changes take longer, but what about the
season that does not pass? I have read a lot about the various challenges
people face, but I haven’t read anything about a season that
just does not pass.
For me that season is waiting. I am a “Wait’er” A professional “Wait”er
My
season of waiting began about forty years ago and despite experiencing many
life changing circumstances during this time period, good and bad, my “waiting”
season has not passed. Thankfully, I am not always consciously aware that I am
waiting, but recently my awareness of waiting has flared up again very strongly
and I realized that I am still waiting.
This
brought about the question. Is this a bad thing? Waiting for most of us, is
usually considered a waste of time. We don’t like queues or waiting for others
in traffic. The month feels long when we are waiting for our pay checks and
people who are tardy for appointments are considered as wasting our time, so in
general waiting feels like a negative thing.
How does waiting feel? Waiting to me feels like being driven to the edge of sanity sometimes, especially when I don’t know how long I will be waiting for. Ask any mother whose child is in emergency surgery? Or the patient waiting for the results of blood tests? The prisoner waiting for time to pass to expected freedom. The terminal patient, having been told time is short and waiting to die. Or any aged person waiting for a visit from loved ones?
One
more hour, one more day, one more week, one more month, one more year, one more
decade, one more century, or one complete lifetime. Waiting indefinitely is
enough to drive someone right over the edge.
I
have given these times of waiting lots of names during my life. I’ve called it
patience, endurance, perseverance, faithfulness and even loneliness because
most of the time this waiting has been very lonely exercise, when others have
not understood exactly. Others have also given my “waiting” names like
ignorance, stupidity, wasteful, indifference, even peculiar.
However,
by whichever name it is called, my waiting season has continued unabated
through the years, until recently when it has been brought to focus in my life
again.
Can
I really be the only one in this constant waiting mode? I can’t believe it and
I don’t believe it. Why do we not speak of it or hear of it more often? Am I ignorant?
Am I stupid? Or am I just peculiar? Am I wearing a mask or are others wearing
masks, smiling and confident, going through life’s motions while waiting,
waiting and waiting some more?
I
believe there are many professional “wait”ers…We just aren’t really aware of
one another.
Waiting has several sounds.
Waiting can sound like the distant barking of a
dog…constant, continuous, nagging…but distant enough away not to directly annoy
but a reminder none the less.
Waiting
can sound like a radio playing incessantly in the background…you hear tiny
fragments of songs playing and spoken words, white noise really, but the
general gist of the conversations goes unnoticed.
Waiting
can sound like the whir whir of an overhead fan, going round and round at a
constant steady speed, moving but going nowhere fast.
Waiting
can chip away steadily at your resolve and sanity, bit by bit eroding your
resistance, as the steady dripping of water erodes rock surfaces, until you
find yourself at the edge, but at the edge of what exactly?
The
enemy of our souls often uses these times of waiting and our awareness of
waiting to whisper into our ears, telling us lies, about ourselves, our lives,
our loved ones and even our God.
And
if we are not careful to shut out these whispers we will be swept away in these
lies.
1 John 5:21
“Little
children (believers, dear ones), guard yourselves from idols—[false
teachings, moral compromises, and anything that would take God’s place in your heart].” AMP
Because
we are told to WAIT on the Lord.
Psalm
27:14
“Wait for and confidently expect the Lord; Be strong and let your heart
take courage; Yes, wait for and confidently expect the Lord.” AMP
The
truth is we are waiting…I am waiting to be reunited with my Creator. Until then
we will never be fulfilled, never be entirely satisfied with our existence and
life. I have been waiting to truly belong… to belong somewhere and to belong to
someone for almost as long as I can remember…waiting that has seemed endless.
There
is no possession, occupation, parent, child, husband, wife or sibling that can
fill the void that only God can fill. Yes I am a Child of the Most High God and He
certainly is my God and King, but until I am in His actual presence, I simply
don’t belong fully and completely on this planet or even in this existence. I
am peculiar and I feel alien, even when in the company of people I call my own
and know well.
I
have heard His voice and I have His seen His face beaconing me to follow Him.
He called me as a young girl and ever since then I have been following but also
waiting…I have been restlessness most of my life…
Waiting
to return to His presence…
1 Peter 2:9
“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people;
that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of
darkness into his marvellous light;” KJV
So
although the waiting is hard, lonely and long, my prayer is that my
restlessness will not cause me to miss the mark altogether. Rather, that my
restlessness will cause me and my loved one’s to press in, to press on, and to
press home…to the place where every person ever created has a place of
belonging…Where the waiting will cease forever and we will be in the presence
of the One to whom we will know fullness and complete belonging…
Do
you also feel as if you have been waiting for something, someone, forever? Perhaps
that’s the point. We should all be professional wait”ers…Waiting and yearning
for the true lover of our souls…Surely He is Worth waiting for.
*Hugs* till next time.
Ariéte
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