The In-Between

³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. ⁴ And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing James 1:3–4

Yesterday after church, we went out to eat with a group of seven if you have ever tried to get a table for that many on a Sunday afternoon, you know there is a good chance you will be waiting a little while.  Sure, enough we had to wait for a table. While we were waiting, I noticed one of those little newspapers sitting there,  I picked it up,  read a few things, and started looking at the crossword puzzle.  That's when my grandson imformed me that I needed to put the newspaper down because I wasnt from the 1940's.  Apparently, reading an actual newspaper is a little too old-fashinoned for his generation. But somewhere in the middle of all that waiting ( and getting reminded how old I am apparently) I got to thinking.  What do we do with the time in between, in the waiting? 

At the restaurant, I was just finding something to do until our table was ready, but when it comes to life I wonder how often we treat the waiting the same way. We’re just trying to get through it so we can move on to what’s next, we spend a lot of life waiting on something, an answer to prayer, a situation to improve,  a door to open, something we’ve been hoping for to finally happen.  The problem is we’re so focused on what we’re waiting for that we don’t pay much attention to what’s happening in the meantime.

There’s something happening in the waiting James 1:3–4 says:  ³ knowing that the testing of youfaith produces endurance.⁴ And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" James reminds us that God can use difficult seasons to help us grow. I’ve found that some of the things God teaches us take time, and a  lot of times, we don’t recognize what He’s been doing until we look back. Maybe you’ve been praying about something for a while, and you still don’t have an answer. Or maybe you’re dealing with a situation you wish would change, but it hasn’t  It’s easy to get discouraged when things don’t happen as quickly as we’d like.

But what if God is using this time to teach you something? Maybe He’s helping you learn patience, maybe He’s teaching you to trust Him when you don’t have all the answers, or maybe He’s showing you an area of your life where you need to grow. We don’t always know why God allows certain things to take so long but we can trust that He is able to use even those seasons to help us grow.

Don’t put your walk with God on hold Philippians 1:6 tells us “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” I like that reminder because it tells us God isn’t finished working in our lives, His work in us doesn’t have to stop just because we’re waiting for something else to happen. We can keep praying, keep serving, keep learning, and keep doing what God has already called us to do.

Maybe the question isn’t just, “When is God going to answer this prayer?” Maybe we also need to ask, Lord, what do You want to teach me while I’m waiting?

Maybe you’re starting this week waiting on something, you’ve prayed about it, you’ve thought about it. and you’d really like to see some progress. Keep praying, keep trusting God with it. But don’t overlook what He may be doing in your life right now. sometimes we’re so focused on what we want God to change around us that we miss what He’s working to change in us.