Living in the Wait Land

As a writer, I spend a lot of time in the “wait land.”

Waiting for magazines to post their latest theme list, waiting for an editor or agent to read my submission and response, waiting for the next great idea.

If you’re a writer I know you can relate, but I think everyone lives in the wait land. Students wait for grades to be posted, employees wait for raises and promotions, parents wait for the children to grow up and grandparents wait for the little ones to visit.

Waiting isn’t fun and it’s not easy. Especially when we’re waiting for something life-altering, either good or bad such as a new job, or the results of a CT scan.

Why does God make us wait? Romans 8:28 tells us that God works for our good so He must have an important reason. We can learn many things in the wait land. Delays, setbacks and disappointments build our hope, patience and faith. They draw us closer to God, and we depend on Him more and more.

What should we do while we are waiting?

Be happy and celebrate with others. When a friend wins a writing contest, a critique partner gets published or finds an agent cheer them on. Share in their victories with a genuine joy. God says that love is not jealous, so we should never be jealous of friend’s victory.

God is not limited in the number of blessing He can bestow.

Just because your friend is blessed by winning a contest doesn’t mean that you have lost a blessing. We should never underestimate God. We have to wait on His timing.

As rewarding as writing, sports and human relationships may be, nothing is as wonderful as a relationship with Jesus Christ. We need to rest in Jesus’s arms.

Being still is very difficult for me. It’s hard for me to rest and let God lead and direct. I’ve learned through the years, that things work much better when I let go.

I have to trust God to open the right doors and close the wrong doors. I have to believe that He has a perfect plan and a perfect will.

Life in the wait land teaches us to count on God’s strength, not ours. His creative spirit, His desires, His purposes and His will for our lives are revealed in the wait land.

Life in the WAIT LAND is not so bad after all.

Have you ever had to wait for something? How did you handle this situation?