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This week, our devotional was all about the unexpected blessings that can come from experiencing delays, inspired by the strange warm October my region is having right now. In a culture that doesn’t like to wait, delays are often seen as negative. But sometimes a delay can surprise us, especially if we choose to wait well!
Today’s question: can you think of a time when you were forced to wait and it ended up being a real blessing? And what do you think “waiting well” looks like for you?
Absolutely! I remember when I first graduated university and wanted to get into advertising as a science major. I worked really hard to get interviews and finally got one for a marketing position - but after multiple conversations, it didn't go through. At that moment, I felt defeated. Looking back, it was only my first "interview", but I already felt frustrated (haha so silly!). Anyways, not long after, I landed an internship at a creative agency and this one required absolutely no effort at all. God knew what was lined up for me.
The way I see it now, "waiting well" feels like ease. It looks like waking up everyday, thanking God for another day of blessings and learnings, and going to sleep feeling happy to have lived. It's the acknowledgement that on my way to the destination, I deserve to enjoy the journey; and I also deserve growth. So as I wait for God's signal - I must give myself the grace (& space) to bump up against things, and discover more about myself & the world.
*Thank you for this beautiful question, S.E. I enjoyed writing out my thoughts and reflecting on this xo
Ha! It's like you knew this has been on my mind. This is always a great topic for reflection.
I'll try to limit myself to two thoughts. (afterthought--I failed, it's three).
First, in a month I will be getting married. My bride-to-be and I were engaged September of 2021 so it has been more than a year of waiting, and now we are a month out and things are a little chaotic--final preparations, etc. The Church requires a period of no less than 6 months preparation, where we meet regularly with the Priest who will be marrying us. Soon-to-be-Mrs. Scoot and I have talked many times about how valuable this time of preparation has been. The preparation has caused some searching self reflection, joint reflection from both of us, planning, prayer--we were not ready for marriage when we became engaged; but we feel much more ready for it now. The waiting has really helped us to think about what is important and how we individually fit into this joint project of married life.
Quick detour: I had a friend many years ago who was, I will say...rambunctious and impulsive. I would go along on some of his larks until they seemed to deviate from common sense. I remember a conversation with him where I told him I thought a certain plan wasn't thought out, and I'd like to help, but I cannot help as the plan currently exists. He lost his temper--he didn't like being told "No". His temper surprised me, but it was a good learning experience. Telling others, or telling yourself "no" (even if it's really "not yet") is a good way to learn a lot about others and yourself. Thinking about it now, God does this to us. When we want something very badly, sometimes he tells us "no" but it always means "not yet" or "I have something better that you don't know you want". How we respond to God's "no" tells us a lot about ourselves. It can be an encouragement to trust Him more--He's got a different plan for us than the plan we have for ourselves, and God's plans always terminate upon the True, Good, and/or Beautiful.
My second thought was on your "what does waiting well look like" question. There's the old cliche I am sure you know, Luck is the confluence of opportunity and preparation. If you are always preparing, when the opportunity comes you don't have to wait--you can just take it. When contemplating questions like this, we can think about what the highest good is, what is the best wait, the ideal version of this. And to me, the highest good that everyone waits for is Heaven. And what do we do while we are waiting for Heaven? We are called not to be passive, but to prepare--to make ourselves a little more worthy of the presence of God, to make the world around us a little more like Heaven. And this is true of all waiting--my waiting for marriage has consisted of trying to make myself a little more worthy of my future wife, to make our relationship a little more filled with peace and love. Waiting for a promotion, a birthday, a warm day, a seasonal change--how do we make ourselves a little more ready, how can we share that gift of readiness with those around us?
I know I've been waxing philosophical a lot in the comments here but if you would stop having such thought provoking material I would be able to stop talking so much. Thank you, as always, for this invitation to reflect.
I can think of a fairly recent example. The pandemic took well over half of our income... and honestly, we’re still dealing with some income loss. My husband is a personal trainer & before the pandemic was a manager at his club, as well as a trainer. The company got rid of most management positions to save money and with gyms closed, he had no clients for months (& once back had to build his book of business from almost scratch again). It was a long, long season of waiting. Wondering if he should take a job elsewhere, or wait it out. We kept feeling God tell us to wait it out. And, in the waiting, God miraculously provided time & time again. And, we somehow found ourselves less stressed than pre-pandemic. Hubby had less hectic work days no longer having to manage a team, we had much more time together, we grew closer and in the waiting clarified our values and goals. It was hard, and frustrating, and I was impatient often ... but I’m so grateful for the waiting season now.
I’m not good at waiting! Once I was moved to a position reporting to a woman who was so flighty. She would give me an assignment then the next week she had changed gears and would ask me to work on something else. It was a painful couple of years. However, it was a very humbling season, and I can see now how God was working on me.
Waiting well for me means praying daily for peace and trusting that greater plans are being worked out.
Oct 13, 2022·edited Oct 13, 2022Liked by S.E. Reid
Mine came this week. I'm getting emotional typing this. This week, I finally got a job on Upwork to do. Counting one other job that wasn't on Upwork, I have only been able to get a client twice since February. It was only for a very small amount. The organization I worked for wanted a blog post. They gave me their website address and asked what I would write about. I went to their site and found a young man and his family that lived in squalor. I knew I wanted to write about him and his family. This family's story tugged at my heart. I knew my writing could change this family's life. I researched the area + a youtube video, and some information the organization gave me. I've been praying to God for a long time to help me. I think He directed this organization toward me. They told me they liked my writing style. I had given them two posts from my Substack. In 3 1/2 hours, I had the 1399 word blog post done. They liked the blog post. I am going through a hard time right now, and I think God placed me there to help this family. What I received will only pay half of one bill but it is a start. Will more help from God come through for me? I hope because I don't know what is going to happen in the next few weeks. Now, if only I can find other people that like my writing, and I can help them too and make a difference. All I know is I will keep praying to God that He sends more people to help me.
Absolutely! I remember when I first graduated university and wanted to get into advertising as a science major. I worked really hard to get interviews and finally got one for a marketing position - but after multiple conversations, it didn't go through. At that moment, I felt defeated. Looking back, it was only my first "interview", but I already felt frustrated (haha so silly!). Anyways, not long after, I landed an internship at a creative agency and this one required absolutely no effort at all. God knew what was lined up for me.
The way I see it now, "waiting well" feels like ease. It looks like waking up everyday, thanking God for another day of blessings and learnings, and going to sleep feeling happy to have lived. It's the acknowledgement that on my way to the destination, I deserve to enjoy the journey; and I also deserve growth. So as I wait for God's signal - I must give myself the grace (& space) to bump up against things, and discover more about myself & the world.
*Thank you for this beautiful question, S.E. I enjoyed writing out my thoughts and reflecting on this xo
Ha! It's like you knew this has been on my mind. This is always a great topic for reflection.
I'll try to limit myself to two thoughts. (afterthought--I failed, it's three).
First, in a month I will be getting married. My bride-to-be and I were engaged September of 2021 so it has been more than a year of waiting, and now we are a month out and things are a little chaotic--final preparations, etc. The Church requires a period of no less than 6 months preparation, where we meet regularly with the Priest who will be marrying us. Soon-to-be-Mrs. Scoot and I have talked many times about how valuable this time of preparation has been. The preparation has caused some searching self reflection, joint reflection from both of us, planning, prayer--we were not ready for marriage when we became engaged; but we feel much more ready for it now. The waiting has really helped us to think about what is important and how we individually fit into this joint project of married life.
Quick detour: I had a friend many years ago who was, I will say...rambunctious and impulsive. I would go along on some of his larks until they seemed to deviate from common sense. I remember a conversation with him where I told him I thought a certain plan wasn't thought out, and I'd like to help, but I cannot help as the plan currently exists. He lost his temper--he didn't like being told "No". His temper surprised me, but it was a good learning experience. Telling others, or telling yourself "no" (even if it's really "not yet") is a good way to learn a lot about others and yourself. Thinking about it now, God does this to us. When we want something very badly, sometimes he tells us "no" but it always means "not yet" or "I have something better that you don't know you want". How we respond to God's "no" tells us a lot about ourselves. It can be an encouragement to trust Him more--He's got a different plan for us than the plan we have for ourselves, and God's plans always terminate upon the True, Good, and/or Beautiful.
My second thought was on your "what does waiting well look like" question. There's the old cliche I am sure you know, Luck is the confluence of opportunity and preparation. If you are always preparing, when the opportunity comes you don't have to wait--you can just take it. When contemplating questions like this, we can think about what the highest good is, what is the best wait, the ideal version of this. And to me, the highest good that everyone waits for is Heaven. And what do we do while we are waiting for Heaven? We are called not to be passive, but to prepare--to make ourselves a little more worthy of the presence of God, to make the world around us a little more like Heaven. And this is true of all waiting--my waiting for marriage has consisted of trying to make myself a little more worthy of my future wife, to make our relationship a little more filled with peace and love. Waiting for a promotion, a birthday, a warm day, a seasonal change--how do we make ourselves a little more ready, how can we share that gift of readiness with those around us?
I know I've been waxing philosophical a lot in the comments here but if you would stop having such thought provoking material I would be able to stop talking so much. Thank you, as always, for this invitation to reflect.
I can think of a fairly recent example. The pandemic took well over half of our income... and honestly, we’re still dealing with some income loss. My husband is a personal trainer & before the pandemic was a manager at his club, as well as a trainer. The company got rid of most management positions to save money and with gyms closed, he had no clients for months (& once back had to build his book of business from almost scratch again). It was a long, long season of waiting. Wondering if he should take a job elsewhere, or wait it out. We kept feeling God tell us to wait it out. And, in the waiting, God miraculously provided time & time again. And, we somehow found ourselves less stressed than pre-pandemic. Hubby had less hectic work days no longer having to manage a team, we had much more time together, we grew closer and in the waiting clarified our values and goals. It was hard, and frustrating, and I was impatient often ... but I’m so grateful for the waiting season now.
I’m not good at waiting! Once I was moved to a position reporting to a woman who was so flighty. She would give me an assignment then the next week she had changed gears and would ask me to work on something else. It was a painful couple of years. However, it was a very humbling season, and I can see now how God was working on me.
Waiting well for me means praying daily for peace and trusting that greater plans are being worked out.
Mine came this week. I'm getting emotional typing this. This week, I finally got a job on Upwork to do. Counting one other job that wasn't on Upwork, I have only been able to get a client twice since February. It was only for a very small amount. The organization I worked for wanted a blog post. They gave me their website address and asked what I would write about. I went to their site and found a young man and his family that lived in squalor. I knew I wanted to write about him and his family. This family's story tugged at my heart. I knew my writing could change this family's life. I researched the area + a youtube video, and some information the organization gave me. I've been praying to God for a long time to help me. I think He directed this organization toward me. They told me they liked my writing style. I had given them two posts from my Substack. In 3 1/2 hours, I had the 1399 word blog post done. They liked the blog post. I am going through a hard time right now, and I think God placed me there to help this family. What I received will only pay half of one bill but it is a start. Will more help from God come through for me? I hope because I don't know what is going to happen in the next few weeks. Now, if only I can find other people that like my writing, and I can help them too and make a difference. All I know is I will keep praying to God that He sends more people to help me.