1656 While You Wait BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women
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- Christianity
You’re waiting on something, and it feels like it’s taking entirely too long to happen. You’re stuck in limbo wondering when. And as we wonder when we often begin to ask why. Why is this taking so long? Why do I have to wait? Why me?
Time is a funny thing. We can wait for several years for something, but then as soon as we have it, our whole world shifts around now having it. And now that we have it, it’s easy to take it for granted. It’s easy to overlook the fact that this morning we woke up with so many things we were once waiting for.
Seriously, remember when you were counting down the days to your wedding, or prewashing all those new baby clothes with such anticipation of the day you would bring that baby home, or dreaming of moving into the new house, or interviewing for the job and praying they would choose you. Eventually the day came, and the day went, and what you had looked so forward to became reality, then reality lost its luster. How many days have gone by since you were genuinely excited about what you already have? Probably a lot.
We only seem to get excited about what we don’t have yet. What we do have is already old news. So now we just wait. Wait for the next new thing. Wait for the weekend. Wait for vacation. Wait for the next holiday. Wait for something to change. All while days are going by that we will never get back.
What are you waiting on? Can you be happy while you wait? Can you find joy in the in between? Can you count your blessings while one blessing is missing?
This is one of the greatest lessons God has been graciously teaching me over the past 5 years. He’s teaching me to trust him with the timing and choose to be happy while I wait. If I can’t be happy while I wait for this problem to be fixed, then I may be unknowingly sacrificing year after year of my life. And really, what glory does that give God if I sit here miserable in the wait? What kind of faith is it that requires all my blessings to be present before I count them?
Paul taught us about choosing happiness in the middle of a mess while waiting for it to get better. He called it contentment. Contentment is a quiet state of happiness and satisfaction. Contentment isn’t loud, it’s a calm feeling within, regardless of the storm outside. He said in Philippians 4: 11, “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself.” Notice the word LEARNED.
Learned implies it wasn’t natural to be content in his circumstances. It wasn’t automatic and without effort. Paul had to choose his mindset over and over again until he had LEARNED contentment.
What is natural for human beings when we don’t get what we want when we want it is to throw a fit. Seriously, look at a baby. If a baby doesn’t get fed within 3 seconds of feeling hungry, there’s a complete meltdown. That’s what is natural to us. We have to learn how to still be happy when we don’t get what we want when we want it.
How loud are your complaints when you are waiting? How ugly is your face when things aren’t the way you want them to be? Let’s check real life situations here …
You’re at a restaurant and you’ve ordered chicken fajitas, no rice with double beans and guacamole on the side. The waitress brings steaming hot steak fajitas with rice and the guacamole is old. Check your face? How do you react? What do you say? Are you going to throw your grown woman hissy fit?
You’re waiting in a crowded parking lot for a spot. There’s a car leaving, so you turn on your blinker and wait. Just then a truck whips right in front of you and t...
You’re waiting on something, and it feels like it’s taking entirely too long to happen. You’re stuck in limbo wondering when. And as we wonder when we often begin to ask why. Why is this taking so long? Why do I have to wait? Why me?
Time is a funny thing. We can wait for several years for something, but then as soon as we have it, our whole world shifts around now having it. And now that we have it, it’s easy to take it for granted. It’s easy to overlook the fact that this morning we woke up with so many things we were once waiting for.
Seriously, remember when you were counting down the days to your wedding, or prewashing all those new baby clothes with such anticipation of the day you would bring that baby home, or dreaming of moving into the new house, or interviewing for the job and praying they would choose you. Eventually the day came, and the day went, and what you had looked so forward to became reality, then reality lost its luster. How many days have gone by since you were genuinely excited about what you already have? Probably a lot.
We only seem to get excited about what we don’t have yet. What we do have is already old news. So now we just wait. Wait for the next new thing. Wait for the weekend. Wait for vacation. Wait for the next holiday. Wait for something to change. All while days are going by that we will never get back.
What are you waiting on? Can you be happy while you wait? Can you find joy in the in between? Can you count your blessings while one blessing is missing?
This is one of the greatest lessons God has been graciously teaching me over the past 5 years. He’s teaching me to trust him with the timing and choose to be happy while I wait. If I can’t be happy while I wait for this problem to be fixed, then I may be unknowingly sacrificing year after year of my life. And really, what glory does that give God if I sit here miserable in the wait? What kind of faith is it that requires all my blessings to be present before I count them?
Paul taught us about choosing happiness in the middle of a mess while waiting for it to get better. He called it contentment. Contentment is a quiet state of happiness and satisfaction. Contentment isn’t loud, it’s a calm feeling within, regardless of the storm outside. He said in Philippians 4: 11, “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself.” Notice the word LEARNED.
Learned implies it wasn’t natural to be content in his circumstances. It wasn’t automatic and without effort. Paul had to choose his mindset over and over again until he had LEARNED contentment.
What is natural for human beings when we don’t get what we want when we want it is to throw a fit. Seriously, look at a baby. If a baby doesn’t get fed within 3 seconds of feeling hungry, there’s a complete meltdown. That’s what is natural to us. We have to learn how to still be happy when we don’t get what we want when we want it.
How loud are your complaints when you are waiting? How ugly is your face when things aren’t the way you want them to be? Let’s check real life situations here …
You’re at a restaurant and you’ve ordered chicken fajitas, no rice with double beans and guacamole on the side. The waitress brings steaming hot steak fajitas with rice and the guacamole is old. Check your face? How do you react? What do you say? Are you going to throw your grown woman hissy fit?
You’re waiting in a crowded parking lot for a spot. There’s a car leaving, so you turn on your blinker and wait. Just then a truck whips right in front of you and t...