A Crazy Blog Tour; Part 1 Of 3: Inspirational

Waiting. Does it ever stop?

Is it just me, or is there irony in that question? Let’s admit it, though: sometimes, we’re just waiting for the waiting period to be over.

But usually it doesn’t just stop there. Have you noticed? We’re waiting for graduation so we can stop doing school then we’re waiting for that perfect job to come along. We wait until God brings along a husband for us gals, then we’re waiting for the engagement, then the wedding. Then we wait for the first baby, and wait until said baby is out of diapers, and wait until baby grows up and goes through all the school years and graduates, and wait for baby to find a spouse and get married… the circle never ends. As soon as one waiting period is over, we’re waiting for the next thing.

I’m a single gal myself. What most people don’t realize is that I’m knocking on 30’s door (nope, not in my teens anymore by a long shot). And in these definitely-less-than-thirty-years, I’ve had my fair share of waiting. Whether it’s an annual event, a nephew to be born, a sister’s wedding, a husband for myself, or the wide-open “just waiting”—it’s all the same. Waiting can easily lead us to impatience and uncertainty. And if we’re not careful, the agony of waiting can lead us to take steps that God is not leading us to take.

Granted, in some instances in life, we are responsible to take action during the waiting period. For example, every time I have a story idea, there is this waiting and anticipating stage for writing, editing, and publishing. But guess what? If I don’t actually crack down and put some work in, I’ll be waiting for it to be ready for publication for years.

But what about when something is completely out of our control? When the waiting is contingent on someone else? Or if it’s open-ended waiting… and we’re not really sure what we’re waiting for?

Yeah. That’s when it’s extra tough.

Psalm 37 is kind of my go-to Psalm whenever I’m having a rough time waiting or knowing the next step to take. Verse seven says, “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him…”

Instead of “just waiting,” we need to refocus our heart to be “resting and waiting.” What’s the difference? To me, resting in the Lord means putting my entire life in His hands—my past, my present, and my future. It is, in a sense, just another definition of trusting in Jesus Christ. As long as I am focused on the fact that I’m waiting, my eyes are on my circumstances, not on Christ. And when my eyes are off Christ, it opens the door for discontentment, impatience, doubt, and fear to set in.

Psalm 27:14 encourages us to “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.” This thought is reiterated in Psalm 62:5, “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him.” Ultimately, we are waiting on God. When I remind myself that my Savior loves me and has greater plans for me than I could ever imagine, it helps me to trust Him in every waiting period.

Does it get easier? You know, sometimes it does. Is every day easy? No, of course not. But every day in every waiting period offers us the opportunity to grow more in our trust of Jesus Christ. We can choose to heed the exhortations from the Psalms and wait (patiently!) or we can ignore them and fret our days away. Today, I have that choice. Today, you have that choice. How will we live in our waiting period?

 

About the Tour
In anticipation of the release of “Protecting the Poor” (book three in the Tales of Faith series), Amanda is guest posting or being featured on over a dozen blogs each month. Each post is unique to the blog—an inspirational post, an article on the writing craft, an excerpt from one of the Tales of Faith books… you’ll just have to visit each blog to see what comes up. 😉 Amanda will link to each blog on With a Joyful Noise, so check in every week and see what blogs have a special Tales of Faith feature!

About Amanda
Amanda Tero began her love for words at a young age—reading anything she could get her hands on and penning short stories as young as age eight. Since graduation, she has honed her writing skills by dedicated practice and study of the writing craft. She began her journey of publication with a few short stories that she had written for her sisters and continued to add to her collection with other short stories, novellas, and novels. It is her utmost desire to write that which not only pleases her Lord and Savior, but also draws the reader into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.

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What do you think, is this a crazy blog tour?