Faith Matters

What waiting reveals about our true selves

An insight I gleaned from Ernest Hemingway rings true for the mainline church today.

We hate waiting. We get a lot of practice, but that doesn’t make us good at it. We wait in traffic, in grocery store lines, at airports, at the Department of Motor Vehicles, and in doctors’ waiting rooms.

Sometimes the waiting is for important news. Will the medical tests reveal a terrible disease? Will we get the job for which we interviewed, or will it go to someone else? Will we ever find intimacy? Will our child grow up to be a responsible adult?

For those who worship, some of the hardest waiting is upon God. There are so many promises in the Bible, and at least one of them has captured our hearts. “Call unto me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things you do not know.” “The one who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.” “Go to a land that I will show you, and I will make you a blessing.”