THE DANCE OF WAITING

“For my thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord, “And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.” Isaiah 55:8 (NLT)

Waiting is tough, ya’ll. What are you  WAITING for? It may be a prayer request to be answered, it may be affirmation from God about some decision you are having to make, it may be waiting to hear from someone about something important to you, or it may be waiting for a sense of completeness….relief….stress-free goodness.

I don’t know what you are waiting for, but I sure know what I am waiting for. You know that feeling when you think the answer will be in your email inbox, so you compulsively check it a million times in an hour….just to see if the answer is there?! Or the waiting may just feel like the elephant always in the room…hovering over your day….distracting you from peace. We wait on lots of things in life. We go through lots of seasons of waiting, and it isn’t always fun!

For me, waiting feels like my mind can’t fully rest. It’s just like the feeling I get in the ballet studio when I am trying to learn a new piece of choreography. For example, right now I am learning a different version of Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker. I have danced five different versions of Waltz of the Flowers over the last fifteen or so years, so learning a whole new version has made my brain feel a little fried at times. :) I have parts of older versions stuck in my mind, and my body wants to do certain steps on certain notes of the music. I am having to make myself forget the old steps in order to make room for the new steps. Until the choreography completely gels in my mind, it is a very unsettling feeling because as dancers, our bodies want to know what to do a little bit before the moment that we have to execute the steps and when I am still trying to remember the steps….well my body cannot execute the movements by the time I remember the steps! Ahhhh! It’s a place of limbo as a dancer. But oh how sweet the rehearsal day is when it all gels….when the choreography sticks to the brain and then the muscle memory kicks in and we can just enjoy dancing. I am in the process of getting the steps to gel….in fact, I woke up in the middle of the night going over the steps in my mind. :) The more I repeat the steps, the more they will gel.

As we wait in real life, I know I need to remember that God does not want me to live in a state of emotional stress. This waiting, is a dance of learning to trust God with everything in my life. He wants me to live free of angst and worry…

Waiting is a reminder to trust in God’s timing, His ways, and His plan.

As we wait in real life, I know I need to let go of my old ways of processing waiting (checking my email a zillion times, escaping into information overload hoping the answer will appear, getting stressed and antsy) and make room for a new way to wait with the perspective that waiting can be a sweet time to draw closer to Jesus.

As we wait in real life, we can soak our hearts into God’s love by:

• Diving into His Word when our hearts are hungry for an answer
• Talk to God in prayer (on a walk, in the car, through journaling, or simply sitting outside and letting our hearts settle into His faithfulness)

Just as dancers feel unsettled till the choreography sets in, as women, we feel unsettled until we know the answer, but we can rest in this (preaching to my own heart here)….

God’s got you. God’s got me. God’s got a plan for our lives. He knows every detail. He knows what is best. His timing is best. He’s at work behind the scenes….I like to think that He’s most actively at work on your behalf particularly on the days you feel like your prayer request may have gone unnoticed. His love for you is deep, personal, ever-pursuing your heart. He is passionate about you and He has surprises up His sleeve and just around the corner. The challenge is not to rush Him. The challenge is to trust that His timing is best. It will be worth the wait. He will answer…..

and then your heart will dance with joy as you look back and see how He worked it all out…

but in the meantime…

He invites you to start dancing now…

to live like He’s gonna answer.

He is the God of joy and He wants you to live joyfully….

even in the WAITS of life.

The more I remind myself that He’s got it all, the more my heart will gel with His peace.

Prayer: “Dear Lord, You know what I am waiting for. It is unsettling at times to wait. It’s not easy. Eeeeeek! I just desire to know! Help me live joyfully in the wait. Let my heart keep dancing in trust…trusting that You are working out the details behind the scenes in ways that are far better than my plans.”