I witnessed a funny sight the other day as I made hospital rounds. When I arrived at the elevators, a woman stood there waiting ahead of me. Since the up arrow light was on, I knew she had mashed the button at least once. While we waited for what must have been about 60 seconds, she mashed the button again four times – as if the more she mashed the button the faster the elevator would descend. Finally, just as she mashed it the fourth time, the doors opened. She probably still thinks the door opened when it did because she mashed the button for that fourth time.
We spend a lot of time waiting, doctors even have a room specifically for waiting. I guess that’s why they call us patients, because the we have to wait patiently for our appointment. We wait in checkout lines, we wait at traffic lights, we wait for customer service, we wait for the preacher to get through (and wait, and wait, and wait). We despise waiting, but since it is inevitable, why not learn to make waiting work for us. After all, the Bible speaks highly of waiting.
…they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. – Isaiah 40:31
Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! – Psalm 27:14
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. – Lamentations 3:25
The list could go on, but you get the point.
Productive Waiting
What difference would it make if we began to view our waiting times as providential? What if God has us in a holding pattern for His reasons? Let me suggest some ways you can turn waiting times into productive times.
Bible Reading
Install a Bible app on your smart phone or write some Bible verses on index cards and read scripture while you wait. One of the best is the Bible app by YouVersion. The app includes several translations, many of which you can download to your device for reading without an internet connection.
Some of the Bible apps also include a function that will read the book to you, This function is especially useful if you cannot divert your eyes from something in front of you.
Bible Memory
Waiting also provides the ideal time and circumstance for you to memorize a Bible verse. You can keep several verses written on cards and choose one to memorize during a waiting time. Repeat each line over many times until you memorize it. Once you memorize a line, move on to the next, including all previously memorized lines.
I have produced a handy tool to help you memorize Scripture. Subscribers to my blog receive a link to my handy “A to Z Guide for Bible Memorization.” The guide contains 26 Bible verses you can memorize, each beginning with a successive letter of the alphabet. You can subscribe to the blog by entering your email in the box on the right side of the page.
Prayer
Keep a short prayer list with you and pray for someone’s needs while you wait. Keep a list of local, state, national, and international missionaries and pray for them during your waiting times. Praying during waiting times not only benefits those for whom we pray, it also calms us and refocuses our hearts.
Count Your Blessings
Go through the ABCs and think of blessings that begin with each successive letter of the alphabet. Counting blessings reminds us of God’s goodness shown to us and diverts our attention from the stressful moment at hand. We learn to “think on these things” as Paul instructed in Philippians 4:8.
The point is don’t just sit there and keep mashing the button, do something spiritually productive with your wait time. Maybe God appointed your wait time so you and He could spend some time together. Don’t let an opportunity like that pass you by.