What to Do While You Are Waiting: Be a Witness in the Wait

Kim CrabillBy Kim Crabill4 Minutes

Hello everyone and welcome back to Strengthen Your Walk. I am so delighted to have you with us. Let’s continue our talk today on what to do while we wait.

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There’s a story I want to tell you about. It’s about a pastor’s wife who continuously invited her neighbor to attend their church but never with any success. One day, after discovering her toddlers playing in the mud in the backyard, the pastor’s wife went storming out the door and said, “What are you kids doing? Get yourselves in here right this minute!”

Looking over, she saw that neighbor to whom she had issued so many invitations to church. The neighbor simply looked at her, shook her head, and walked inside.

To the pastor’s wife’s surprise, the neighbor was sitting in the pew the following Sunday morning. “Oh my! I thought you would never come to church after witnessing my angry outburst.”

The neighbor responded, “Well, that’s exactly why I’m here. I realized that your church might understand imperfect people like me!”

Wow, right? I wonder how many people are waiting to see a little bit of imperfection in someone. I wonder how many need to see someone who is struggling as they are. Friends, for years I was in the waiting room of my spiritual life, longing to see just a glimmer of imperfection in someone. I can remember thinking, ‘Is there not one person, not just one, who is struggling with anything? Is there not anyone who is not happy-happy and is fearfully flawed like me?’ Everyone looked so all-together and so perfect and it was nothing that I could relate to.

So, here’s what I’ve been thinking about because we know that waiting is far from a passive activity but actually a time when God is at work, shouldn’t we consider that in our waiting time God is allowing us the opportunity to help others as they wait? Time and time again as I teach from my first book Burdens to Blessings, we find that as soon as one person finds the courage to speak their burden, then others share theirs.

It’s truly amazing to watch! It’s kind of like what C.S. Lewis says: friendships and real relationships are born at that very moment when one person says to the other, “What? You too? I thought I was the only one.”

Relating in our waiting can build true friendships and become an open door for us to comfort others as God has comforted us. Friends, as we wait let’s look for opportunities to relate. We can talk about our struggles while also declaring the unshakeable truths about our savior … that He is faithful; that He will never leave nor forsake us. And personally, I like to use Paul’s declaration in Acts 27:25. He says, “Keep up your courage and have faith in God that everything will happen just as He told me.”

Waiting may not always be easy, but God is always doing His work. We can join Him today by realizing that moments of opposition are great places of opportunity. Share what you’re going through and ask God to whom He wants you to relate during your wait. I hope today’s discussion about things to do while you wait will truly strengthen your walk.

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