GABRIELA YARELIZ

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Waiting is one of the worst feelings. I remember when I was a kid, when I knew my friend Liz was coming to visit, I would sit by the window and wait. That was always a terrible idea because she and her family always arrived later than planned. I would sit by the window, watching intently; get frustrated; eventually walk away; then, I would be mad for a while; I would annoy my parents with questions, and then, I would try to distract myself by setting up doll houses or American Girl Magazines I wanted us to read through together and the quizzes we would take once she arrived.

No matter how mad I was during the wait, when they [she and her family] arrived, I was so happy. The pain of the wait was forgotten. We would hug upon her arrival, go off and play and use up every minute wisely. Eventually, as I got older, I learned to manage the wait in a better way.

This reminds me of all of us human rights and immigration advocates waiting at the edges of our seats for some kind of immigration reform that may bring healing to some people’s lives and families. We wait. We wait hoping.

In life, there are many things we need to wait for. It could be a degree we are working toward (why does time creep by so slowly?), perhaps a job we’ve applied to or better yet just the simple opportunity to interview. We may be waiting for a special opportunity, a trip; waiting to see family; waiting for someone compatible to come along and be our partner-in-crime for life; waiting to move to a new place; waiting to understand something—there are many things we wait for in life. Waiting is not fun. Isn’t that why someone invented the microwave?

While I wait on some of my own personal goals and dreams, sometimes, I feel like my childhood self: frustrated, annoyed, asking questions, pacing, setting up and making plans– and yet deep inside, I know that when it finally comes, I will be so happy. I don’t think I will forget the wait, but that waiting pain will serve to contribute to the feeling of satisfaction and joy in the end.

Sometimes, we pray a lot about certain things. We begin to wonder why it feels like some things are answered quickly, while other things seem to “delay.” Hilariously, things delay for us, but God has His own perfect timing.

Can you imagine how Paul and Silas felt in their chains in the Roman prison? Singing. Bleeding. Waiting.

Martin Luther once said, “God may delay, but He always comes.”

I read something today in the Sept./Oct. Set Apart Girl Magazine (You can find the link to the site on my blog roll to the right), and it was talking about precision when we pray.

“There is a general kind of praying which fails for lack of precision. It is as if a regiment of soldiers should all fire off their guns anywhere. Possibly somebody would be killed, but the majority of the enemy would be missed.” Charles Spurgeon

Therefore, even if you feel a delay and you are going through waiting pain, don’t forget that God is going to show up with your answer. It may be what you’ve asked for, it may be different from what you expect, but whatever comes to you, will be the best for you.

We box God in with everyone who has disappointed us or hasn’t showed up, but God isn’t like that. He shows up, and He shows up with the goods, always.

So while you wait, pray with precision and ask God to prepare your heart for whatever He has in store for you.

I was talking about something with my cousin, Pipo Pere, and I hesitated a bit when I spoke about something I wanted. He said, “If you are there to win, you must talk like you are going to win and not even make losing an option.” That is faith.

Go forward in faith my friend.

“I do not know why there is this difference, but I am sure that God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that it is good for him to wait. When you do enter your room, you will find that the long wait has done you some kind of good which you would not have had otherwise. But you must regard it as waiting, not as camping. You must keep on praying for light: and of course, even in the hall, you must begin trying to obey the rules which are common to the whole house. And above all you must be asking which door is the true one; not which pleases you best by its paint and paneling.”

― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Keep praying. Keep waiting. Keep knocking. Keep seeking.