We all are used to waiting, it’s part of our journey through life. We see it all around us and experience it daily with the seasons and the weather, with planting seeds and waiting for them to grow, waiting for a bus or train to arrive, picking the right checkout at the supermarket or waiting for that online order to arrive. Us Brits pride ourselves on our ability to queue (though this seems to be a dying art as we all grow more impatient), not only in the physical world, but also online. I know someone who will join an online queue for a particular retailer when she doesn’t actually want to buy anything, but because there’s a queue there must be something exciting that she might need! (No, it’s not Ruth!)
Possibly one of the reasons that we love to queue, is that it gives us the opportunity to chat to those around us. In our busy lives, it’s a little oasis of rest and calm before the storm. Queuing also gives us an opportunity to moan about how long we’ve been waiting to anyone and everyone who will listen. We can wear it like a badge of honour or an Olympic medal.
Speaking of the Olympics, I was fascinated by the newly introduced sport of climbing, both the speed climbing, where they climbed a 15 metre wall (approx 49 feet) in less time that it takes me to walk up the stairs, and the bouldering, where they climbed a 45 metre wall with overhangs and minimal foot or hand holds. The dictionary definition of tenacious is “tending to keep a firm hold of something, clinging or adhering closely; not readily relinquishing a position, principle or course of action; persisting, not easily dispelled.” All of which encapsulates the efforts of the climbers.
I was messaging with a friend on Sunday, who asked that awkward question “How are you doing?” I instinctively knew that it was really a two part question:
i) what’s happening with Time2?
ii) how are you coping with the waiting, are you discouraged and disillusioned?
The easy, though not entirely truthful response would have been the classic “We’re fine”, but just at that moment the song “Wait On You” was playing. One of the lines from the song is “I've tasted Your goodness, I'll trust in Your promises, I'm gonna wait on You." It was a great reminder that God has blessed us innumerable times in the past, that He’s given us the vision and the promises that He will provide, and that all we can do is wait for Him.
I’m not going to lie, it’s tough at times, I mean really, really tough, but we’re learning to be tenacious! To cling on to the promises of God, to not relinquish our position, to be persistent. When you see what those Olympic climbers had to hold on to, often with just a couple of fingers taking their entire body weight, it’s a picture of our journey (and probably yours as well).
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