Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. ~Psalms 25:4-5
This past weekend Jeremy bought Ethan one of the Hotwheels tracks that goes on the wall. While we put it together, we kept telling Ethan, “You have to wait, buddy.” He just didn’t understand. He was upset most of the time. At one point, he had to wait several hours for the Command Strips to adhere to the wall correctly. This bit of waiting sent Ethan into a total melt down. Lucky for us, we were leaving for a date. Not so lucky for Trey who was babysitting. Sorry, Trey.
During several of Ethan’s meltdowns, I tried to comfort him by telling him, “It’s okay.” “It will be ready soon.” “You’re not in trouble.” “I’m sorry you don’t understand.” As I said that last one to him, something clicked. While I’m waiting and frustrated, God’s not mad at me either. He’s not angry at my frustration. I’m not getting into trouble for asking how much longer. Yes, I need to work at trusting him and being patient, but on those days that I’m not, it’s okay. Like me with Ethan, God’s probably looking down saying, “I’m sorry you don’t understand. Just a little bit longer and you will see.”
Are all seasons of waiting like this? No. As a friend pointed out after my last post, sometimes you’re waiting on time to pass and the pain to lessen, but at other times when we’re waiting on God to show us the direction to go, we need to remember that we’re not being punished. This period of waiting is not necessarily because we’re in trouble and did something wrong. Sometimes events have to click into place, the glue has to dry, and we just have to wait on God to show us the way.
Tara, thanks for this! I have been doing pretty decent with waiting and trusting God over the last 2.5 months that our house has been on the market. The days I don’t do so well I end up feeling guilty and like I’m not strong enough. It really makes my heart happy to think about God gently whispering to me, “I’m so sorry you don’t understand, my child.” Truly He made our emotions and He understands why we’re feeling the way we are. Great post.
Thank you, Kelly! I’m glad it helped. I had been stressing, too, and when I said those words to Ethan and heard them, it was like a guilt burden was lifted. We’re waiting on house stuff too, but on the buying end. Both are so hard.