A Season of Waiting

A Season of Waiting... Also known as finding P A T I E N C E 

In certain seasons of life I find myself having to remind myself that my life has already been orchestrated by the greatest creator and all the questions I have about life will one day be answered, but not until it is time.  At times in these seasons of life it feels that there is no way I will be able to plow forward, but it is with the help of my magnificent Savior that I am able to press on.  

Have you ever felt like that? 

You're not alone. 

It seems as if this season of impatience in my life has been here for a while and I don't foresee it going away anytime soon.  I believe that it is something we all deal with every single day; however, some situations are more serious than others. 

I have to find patience in my relationship with Joseph. 

Patience in school. 

Patience with my patient's in the hospital. 

Patience with my spiritual walk. 

Patience with friends and family. 

And patience in just every detail of every day. 

To me, it seems as if this is one of the most difficult Fruit of the Spirits to possess. 

But with the hand of God placed upon my life, I have seen many wonderful things happen. 

In the quiet moments of life, when I am trying to plan every detail, is when I hear God simply whisper, "wait". And when I surrender my plans to Him, he takes what I have longed for and either simply blesses me greater than I ever imagined or He simply shows me that my selfish wishes are not necessary at this time in my life. 

The truth is, not one single accomplishment in my life has come without trial or suffering. 

• My relationship with Christ has not always been perfect. There are times when I miss my quiet time during the day or when I would rather sleep than wake up and go to church BUT through faithfulness, prayer, and repentance I have come to a place in life where I realize that I cannot do it on my own. There have been times when I have questioned God, wondering if he is really there and if he really cares about me and every single time, He comes through. I have to patiently rely on the presence of my Savior or my days will be trying and heartbreaking.  
• My relationship with Joseph has pretty days and ugly days. If I'm being honest, this man has shown me what true patience is all about. This is the raw and unedited story of our lives- we fight and we argue and we disagree on many things. But the beauty of our relationship shines because we have prayerfully become patient and accepting of the other. It has taken us many years to get where we are today and many times we questioned if we would make it to see another day with each other. But that is the beauty of Christ and the beauty of our surrendering our relationship to Him. He took each of us, sin and all, and over time has molded us into exactly who we are supposed to be. I have prayed for this revelation and it has taken endless days, months, and years of patience to see the end result.  I am so thankful for what God has done in our lives and thankful that the day we have patiently waited for (for many years) will be here in less than 3 weeks!
• Finding patience in nursing school has been a big hurdle for me. I never thought I would see the day that I actually was able to apply to graduate, much less apply to graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. But with patience and guidance from Christ, I applied to graduate last week. Talk about a blessing that has stemmed from having practicing patience! 
• Lastly, one of the most trying situations to find patience in is when I am taking care of very sick patient's in the hospital. Finding patience with my patient's. At first I thought this would be a really hard task after having patient after patient who was constantly on their call bell or complaining because they don't have a good enough pillow or complaining because they are in so much pain. But this is what I have learned- we are all humans and we all can be annoying at times. But my patient's in the hospital are in an extremely vulnerable state. They are sick and helpless and they are depending on me to care for them. It is my responsibility to treat them as if they were my own family member. Thinking about someone caring for my family member with the type of attitude I had at the beginning humbled me REAL quick. 

So today and everyday I choose to practice what I know to be true - the art of waiting and being patient comes from having faith in Christ because he has already gone before me and made a way for each and every detail in my life. 

Here are some ways that I have found help me in my seasons of waiting and I challenge you to try them if you are in a season of waiting now:

1. Have a quiet time and pray out loud each day. Find a time during the day that works best for you and just sit alone with your bible. Find a devotional that you like and read through it. Start a prayer journal so you can keep track of things and people you are praying for. Use this time to vent to God instead of calling your best friend. It doesn't have to be a long period of time, but enough time that you can cast your cares upon him. 
2. Keep pushing forward. Never ever ever give up. Understand that God has already prepared a way for you and he is just waiting for you to be obedient to him. There are times when it seems as if life is at a standstill and these are the times that you need to spend more time with God and push forward ever harder. If you do your part, what God has called you to do, then He will finish the rest. 
3. Expect that God will do great things in your life. If you truly believe in Christ then you should understand that God will always provide. It may not always be what we want personally, but when God provides he provides what he knows is best for each of us. 

James 1:2-6 tells us that the "testing of faith produces perseverance".

 Strive to be all that you can be -- in the trials of your life practice patience and understand that God is there every step of the way.