Impatiently waiting by Lynda Alsford

I've been waiting. For a while. I've been waiting to see how God would answer my prayers. Well, one prayer in particular. I wanted a change in my work. For financial reasons I needed to be full time and I also wanted to move to a less stressful department. I wish I could tell you I waited patiently and full of joy for His answer. I didn't. 

But my wait is almost over. I have been doing full time hours since April and it makes a big difference to how I cope with the bills. And even better is the fact that I am due to move to the new department permanently in two weeks. I am already doing some days there and I love it. It is so much less demanding and on days when I work there I come home feeling so much less stressed. I think I may even  have more energy for writing. I have so struggled to write while working in this more stressful department.  

This whole experience has got me evaluating my time waiting. Did I wait patiently for the Lord to act on my behalf? Did I keep my eyes on Him, quietly trusting Him to open doors when it was right for them to open? 

How I wish I could say yes to those questions. Unfortunately, though I can't. I was impatient. I tapped my foot and drummed on God's reception desk with my fingers. I rolled my eyes and made unnecessary complaints to Him. And as a receptionist I know what it is like to be on the receiving end of those actions. 

Did my foot tapping and finger drumming speed up the waiting time? Of course not. It just made my waiting time feel longer. I love the quote above by Joyce Meyer.

"Patience is not the ability to wait

but how you act while you're waiting".

I am waiting for my new role at work to start properly. And while waiting I act like a spoilt child some of the time. I whinge and whine. But what does it mean to wait well? For me I think it means a number of things.

• I try to accept that my feelings won't change how quickly my move to the new department happens. 
  
  
• I try to accept that God knows what He is doing. I try to trust in Him and His timing more each day. 
  
  
• I realise that God is using the waiting time to teach me more about Himself and how to be like Jesus. I ask myself 'What can I learn from this?'
  
  
• I try to fill the time with more joyful things as a distraction. 
  
  
• I try to learn to live more in the present moment rather than living in the future. 
  
  
• I give thanks for all that God is doing in my current role, and in the rest of my life.

What about you? Are you waiting for something? How are you waiting?

How can you act differently while waiting? What can you give thanks for in your time of waiting? Can you distract yourself with a joyful activity in the meantime?

I don't think I will ever stop learning this lesson but I am waiting better now than I was 20 years ago and I pray that you will learn to wait better than you do now.

If you wait well I'd love to hear how you wait? What tips can you give the rest of us? 

God bless you all

Lynda Alsford is a sea loving, cat loving GP receptionist/administrator and writes in her spare time. She is also administrator for ACW. She has written two books, He Never Let Go describes her journey through a major crisis of faith whilst working as an evangelist at a lively Church in Chiswick, West London. Being Known describes how God set her free from food addiction. Both books are available in paperback and on kindle on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com. She writes a newsletter, Seeking the Healer, in which she shares the spiritual insights she has gained on her journey. Sign up for this at her website www.lyndaalsford.com.