Is It Possible To Wait With Grace? … Hello Hump Day readers. We are in a “rain zone” this week and I’m sure a lot of our campers will not be happy but oh my, our dry land needs water! One camper that came in yesterday that’s here for 10 days said “of course it’s going to rain, we’re here! Couldn’t it just wait?”

Sometimes waiting is tough and we lose our graciousness because we want this done NOW! Life doesn’t work that way and I am sharing a story with you from a dear friend in Wisconsin. She is a pastor and a delightful writer about “life in Wisconsin” so I think you’ll enjoy what she says: our very-very long wait…

“After limping by with an ancient septic tank, we realized the time had come to update to a mound system, or so the county politely yet strongly told us. Ok, let’s get it done, but that didn’t happen. We waited almost nine months! It was frustrating because we had to save a long time to afford it and now we had the money in hand but they said it was too late in the year to dig and ensure that grass seed would have time enough to grow over the mound before the winter freeze.

My husband said we know that but you were to start this before we go into Wisconsin winter! (He was not real kind with the man.) The reply was “you have to wait in line” so, we waited through the long winter for spring. But guess what, it was too wet of a spring to dig then, and spring–as it often does in Wisconsin, kept one foot in winter for months. We waited for the company’s schedule to open up and finally, in September they got it done. Living with frustration can break your grace, believe me!”

Who hasn’t had to wait, it’s part of our lives. Think of the many times you were waiting for something that was truly needed. For Al and I, buying a lot and putting up a small home in Arizona was a dream come true—until it wasn’t. Like my friend in Wisconsin, everything needed to dig for septic, electric lines, the house itself—was wait and wait and wait until you get frustrated and start calling only to hear “yes, we know, you’re on our list, be patient.”

My friend was right, it “breaks your grace” and you get a bit huffy. So the question is “is it possible to wait with grace?” Yes, it is but—we cannot do this on our own. Only with Jesus on our side, we can find grace in the waiting.

In Romans 1:5 [NLT] the Apostle Paul said “Through him we received grace” so that tells us that in the waiting we have the ability to wait on God’s grace. A pastor friend of mine told me “God’s grace is often best experienced when you have to wait on him. And that’s because when you wait on God, you have nothing but God in which to hope.”

So, if you are not happy about a long-wait that you are in right now, think about this: Jesus, the epitome of grace, waits with us! We might think we’re alone in this time of waiting but we are wrong, we have Jesus walking by our side. Yet, we want to take the reins onto ourselves, thinking we can get it done “my way” which rarely works.

“What are you waiting for?” is a common expression that we say and hear a lot. Perhaps we should change up these words and ask ourselves today for a more meaningful question: “Who am I waiting with?” If the answer is “Jesus” you’ll be just fine and you will find times of grace and opportunities in your waiting. AMEN.