Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV (Artwork by Cindy DeLuz)
Today’s post is by freelance writer and nanny Sara Dawkins. I’m honored to share her wise words about waiting. Thank you, Sara.
I’m not a waiter. I’m just not.
I want to be doing something, anything. Just make a decision, Just move forward. Just go!
The more lost I get, the faster I run as if that will help. In every part of my life, I forge ahead, trying to ignore anything that gets in my way. I go around, I avoid, I hide, but I will get where I have decided I am going.
That is, until I hit a brick wall.
There are some obstacles that are just too big, too tall, too hard to ignore or go around or skip over. That’s when I finally, resentfully, grind to a halt. Huffing and puffing like an overheated engine, I impatiently fuss at the obstacle, at those around me and at the Lord.
I will sit there, sometimes for years, just staring at the wall as if I can tear it down by the sheer force of my will. After a long while, I finally give up. I sit crying and sobbing and acting like those locked behind the Berlin Wall – no hope, no change, no life.
God will let me sit there as long as it takes.
At last, when I am at the end of myself, I’ll feel a prod. I’ll look up. There, much to my surprise, He’s waiting. His hand is out. I take it and stand up and, feet dragging, reluctantly leave the safety of my familiar space.
He takes me down a path I’ve never seen before.
See, the thing I have learned over the years is that God puts obstacles in our way so we have to rely on Him instead of ourselves. We get so fixated on what we think we are supposed to do, we forget to ask Him what His will is for us.
Like I said, I am a person of action. I want to go and do. Sometimes, many times, the Lord has forced me to wait. Be patient. I know it is His way of helping me rely on Him. I know He has a plan for me that I can’t see, but sometimes I just want to move on.
There is usually no miraculous sign when He reveals his will. It’s just that what seemed impossible months or weeks or even days before is now simple. Things just get … easy.
When has something seemed impossible only to become simple and easy? Do you recognize the transition for the miracle that it is?
Author Bio:
Sara Dawkins is a nanny, as well as an active freelance writer. She is a frequent contributor to http://www.nannypro.com/. Learn more about her at http://www.nannypro.com/blog/sara-dawkins/.
Click here for more artwork by Cindy DeLuz.
Oh, gosh, yes!
For years, I wanted to be someone I was not. I wanted to be a peaceful suburbanite, an academic professional untroubled by memories of bloody conflict long past.
I wanted to be able to go to dinner without my wife worrying that if someone popped a balloon, I\’d go completely nonlinear, reaching for a sidearm I no longer routinely carry.
I wanted to walk down a street without scanning rooftops for snipers, without evaluating other pedestrians for concealed firearms or suicide vests.
I wanted to not scare people with a smile that never reached my eyes.
The miracle was God telling me that I could never be that model of upper-middle-class happiness. That I\’d always be a ghost, caught halfway between a past I can\’t forget and a future I can never reach.
And that it was okay. He loves me, and He sent me a wife who understands, and two dozen homeless dogs who can read the smile in my heart – they don\’t need my eyes.
I wanted to be someone else too, Andrew. Isn\’t it comforting to finally be okay with who we are?
It sure is, and it helps us accept other people for whom they are – and not whom we would wish them to be.
\”Do you recognize the transition for the miracle that it is?\”
This was a thought-provoking post, but that last sentence stopped me in my mental tracks. Transition? A miracle? More like a bother. A frustration. A please-can-we-get-to-the-new-normal interruption.
But you\’re right: There is no change without transition.
Sara is a wise writer, Beth. I\’m not sure I would have called transition a miracle, but I know exactly the moment she\’s talking about … when I finally get out of the way and God takes over. At that very minute, change stops being a struggle.