Earlier today, I was in Fayetteville for a meeting, and while I was there, I decided to eat at a nice lunch spot right in the heart of the historic downtown area. The weather was somewhat bearable in the shade, so I chose to eat outside, take in the view, and people-watch while I finished up some work on my phone.
While I was eating, however, an older homeless man approached my table.
“Can I…” he began to say.
I quickly let him down, “I’m sorry man; I don’t have any cash on me…”
“No,” he replied, “I was just wanting a sandwich. Can you get me a sandwich?”
I felt terrible. “Oh, yeah, of course! I’m sorry about that.”
I was kind of in a bind though. I had some important, urgent work I needed to complete during the hour I was eating. I couldn’t really attend to his needs properly at the moment. Trying to be sensitive, I responded, “Hey, you mind if I come get you in like 30 minutes? I have some work I need to get done right now. You’ll be up this way, right?” I motioned with my hands, referring to the short road alongside the block where there was a large, public sitting area and several more restaurants.
He replied, “Yeah, I’ll be right there. I can do that.”
“Great,” I said, “I’ll come find you in just a bit, and I’ll have a sandwich ready for you.”
“Ok, sounds good.” He trailed off and made his way down the street towards the sitting area. I could still spot him from my vantage point.
About 30 minutes passed. I finished my meal, sent the last several emails, and completed my last few mobile assignments. I looked up from my phone, searching for the man, and spotted him from a distance in the same sitting area.
There was a local sandwich shop across the street, so I walked over and ordered the Classic #1 to take to him. I paid for the sandwich, put it in a to-go box, and crossed the street, heading towards the public sitting area. But once I got there, I couldn’t find him. He must have just left. “Well,” I thought, “He can’t be far, I’ll just go find him. I’m sure he’s wondering around the block somewhere.” The historic downtown area isn’t large. In fact, you can see the entire district in one view from the public square.
I walked around, sandwich bag in hand, looking for him. I made a lap around the block. 10 minutes passed by. No luck. Retraced my steps. Another 10 minutes passed by. No luck. “Maybe we’re just missing each other,” I thought. I decided to hang out at the sitting area for a bit, thinking he might come back to where he had left. Several more minutes passed by, and there was no sign of him. I chose to get back on foot. I was determined to find him. I had bought a sandwich for him after all. I had to drive back to Raleigh for work pretty soon, so I decided to take the long way around the block, hoping to run into him on my way back to my car.
Now, this might sound philanthropic, but that’s not the point. Besides, to be honest, I was getting a bit frustrated. I was walking in circles around downtown, in the scorching July heat, wearing dress pants and a long sleeve shirt, sweating for someone I did not know. I wasn’t exactly feeling the spirit of philanthropy.
And I was getting a bit insulted by the whole incident, too. I began to think, “Did the man really think I would lie to him, straight to his face? Does he think I’m that big of a sleaze? That I would promise something and not deliver? I have the means and desire to give him what he asked for. All he had to do was wait just 30 minutes.”
I was getting hot. Physically and emotionally.
But almost immediately, in the midst of my heated, self-justifying feelings, the Spirit spoke to me gently and almost audibly, “Now you know how I feel with you, Austin.” The statement hit me like a brick.
In that moment, I knew exactly what God was trying to communicate through my thick skull–and it’s what He’s trying to speak to each of us, too: “I’m trying to help you. I have the means and the desire to give you what you need and what you want, but you struggle to trust me and to believe in me. You have such a warped view of me at times. Just wait for me. Have faith in me. I’m trustworthy to provide for you. Don’t doubt my goodness. Don’t doubt my timing. Bet on me to come through for you. I’m faithful.”
Why didn’t the homeless man stick around just a little bit longer? Because he didn’t believe me. He didn’t trust me. When I told him to wait just 30 minutes, he thought that that was my clever way of letting him down. So, he bailed. And I never found him.
Unfortunately, I’m afraid that too many of us—especially myself—often relate to God in the same way that this homeless man related to me. We don’t trust God. We don’t believe in Him. We view Him wrongly and cheaply when it comes to Him providing for us.
But God represents just the opposite. He’s not a wicked, equivocating con artist who’s trying to bluff us; He’s a faithful, heavenly Father who’s trying to bless us. He calls us to wait, but to wait in faith—believing Him to be who He says He is and expecting Him to do what only He can do.
And as such, we can only begin to be good and ready receivers when we start believing that God is a good and able giver. If the homeless man knew me to be a willing, able lunch-provider, he would have waited just a couple minutes longer. And the same is true of us when it comes to God. If we know God to be a willing, able provider, we will certainly find the strength to wait in expectation for his provision.
The Waiting Season
Waiting, however, is not fun. There’s no way around it. And to me, it has felt draining. The longer I wait, the more weary and the more jaded I seem to become. Why do I feel that way though? Does it have to feel that way?
No, it doesn’t, not all the time at least. What I’ve come to realize is that waiting feels like hell when I operate from a satanic view of God.
In my seasons of waiting, if I believe that God is unfaithful, flaky, and unwilling, then waiting will strangle me.
But in my seasons of waiting, if I believe that God is faithful, good, and able, then waiting will strengthen me.
How you wait has everything to do with how you view God and nothing to do with how you view your circumstances.
People all through the Bible experience long seasons of waiting. Why should we expect anything different? We shouldn’t.
God is not slow. He’s timely! He ordains seasons of waiting in his sovereignty and goodness. The best thing we can do as we wait is to bet on God in these times. He wants us to do so. It honors Him. It essentially tells Him that you’re banking on his wisdom, power, and love to come through for you in such a way that only He can get the glory when it’s all said and done. And I think that thrills Him more than anything else. I think He likes the challenge–it’s an opportunity for Him to showcase His glory.
If you’re in a season of waiting, take heart from some of these promises in Scripture. Notice how we are “blessed”, “helped”, “gladdened”, and “strengthened” when we trust in Him, bet on Him, and place our faith in Him.
But those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength; they will mount up on wings like eagles; they will run and not become weary; they will walk and not faint. –Is. 40:31
Blessed be the Lord, because he has heard the voice of my supplications! The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, I am helped. –Ps. 28:6-7
Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. –Ps. 33:20-21
Therefore, let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. -1 Pe. 4:19
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. –Rom. 15:13
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. –Ph. 4:19
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit. –Jer. 17:7-8
Your waiting season might look and feel like a drought in more ways than one, but it might just be preparing you for an even more abundant harvest that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. So wait in faith. God’s not slow; He’s timely. Take hope because God and His delays are for you, not against you (Rom. 8:31).
