The Waiting Game

“Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭62:5‬ ‭

‘Waiting is not easy…’, says one of my littles quite often. He’s referencing the title of a Mo Willems book that my class particularly enjoys in which an elephant named Gerald has to wait all day for his surprise.

Just when he thinks he has out-waited the surprise, there it is – the stars, in all their glory.

And he declares with confidence, “That was worth the wait!”

But I agree, mister. I agree.

Waiting is not easy.

So many of our Bible heroes had to wait – for victory to happen, for hardships to pass, for blessings that were promised and didn’t materialize for long periods of time.

I’ve been reading about the life of Joseph lately and yikes! He could definitely have written a book called ‘Waiting is Not Easy’, let me tell you.

Young Joe had some funky dreams about people bowing down to him when he was seventeen. The thing is, they didn’t come true until he was in his thirties.

And he spent a good chunk of those gap years in a foreign prison on trumped up charges that he never had the chance to defend.

Imagine.

I wonder if he groaned big groans like Gerald in our class read aloud. I wonder if he cried into his pillow at night while the rats were scurrying in his dark cell.

The Bible never mentions that part.

What it does say is that Joseph was diligent in his work, a man of integrity. He did what was set before him, and did it well.

But more to the point, the text includes more than once the words ‘God was with Joseph’.

Wouldn’t he rather have had a screwdriver sent in a cake? A copy of the cell block keys? A day in court to prove his innocence?

It seems that the fact that God was with him sustained him through all those years of frustration. That Presence cheered him enough that he was able to work so diligently and efficiently that the warden put him in charge of the whole operation.

While he was waiting, he was learning the skills he would need later, when he was placed in charge of the whole country of Egypt. If he had gone straight to the top at seventeen, he would never have been able to handle the responsibility or the scope of the task.

He learned all those wicked administration skills while playing the waiting game.

What are you waiting for? A promotion at work? A loan for a new business venture? A relationship to heal? An illness to be healed?

If you are waiting on something today, I want you to remember Joseph. His long period of waiting was preparing him for his moment to shine.

What is your waiting doing for you?

What skills are you practicing? What character traits are being reinforced? What are you learning – about yourself, others, and God – that will stand you in good stead for the next chapter of your story?

I’d sure like to win at this waiting game.

Wait quietly and confidently for God to work in your circumstances with me?

Father, waiting is not easy! But we recognize in the life of Joseph the important principles of patiently waiting for Your timing and blessing. As we wait, build our skills and provide us with the tools that will help us to rise to our destiny! Amen.