Joy in the Meantime- How to Really Wait

When we pray to God to ask for something and the thing seems to take some time to come, what is our common reaction? Here are some possibilities:

1. we get angry at God
2. we complained to God
3. we grudgingly wait and wait; not doing anything useful
4. we pray again to God thinking either God did not hear or we did not pray correctly at first.
5. we pray again thinking we should have more faith
6. we pray again thinking by our earnest desire, God will have to answer our request. We learned from Jesus' parable of the "Dishonest Judge" and "Demanding Neighbor" that persistent brings forth results (Actually, such a concept is a misunderstanding of the Parable. Jesus reminded us that His Father is much more loving than the Judge")
   
7. we have a debate with God, trying to convince God that if He answers according to our requests it will bring Him glory.
8. ....

If we truly believe that God will answer our request, the above practices just show everyone that we really don't have the faith and the trust that God will answer. What should be the right attitude in this time of waiting? What should one do at this time? Essentially, what does one do in waiting?

Interestingly, the answer was found when I was studying the Chinese Classics I-Ching and I made a posting Learning from I-Ching Part 10 5需 Needs – Wait for the Right Time. It teaches us to wait with work of preparation and with joy. With the heart of expectancy and gladness, we get ourselves ready, as the bride prepares herself for the wedding day. This is exactly what the Bible teaches and it is the true meaning of patience. Somehow, we have the strange concept that waiting is hard, painful, and frustrating that we need to quickly get it over.

If our faith is true, we should value this time of preparation while we await answers to our prayers and the 2nd coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We work with gladness and joy and look forward to a great day. No complaints, please. There is no need to concentrate our efforts on praying and arm-twisting God to answer. Rest from our complaints and work happily and diligently for a great day.

When my wife reads the I-Ching post on waiting,  she said that the waiting time was not quiet at all. There were complaints, robberies, and attacks from the enemy resulting in a real bloody mess. Waiting is not as peaceful and quiet as we thought. It is a very busy, noisy and messy time. So, don't be discouraged when you find your waiting time rather challenging. The closer you get to the opportune time, the more challenges you will face. Be encouraged by the presence of greater resistance, it shows that you are very near! Cheer up and continue to move forward. Your breakthrough is at the door.

Please also read  Joy of Waiting - improving the process in the meantime.