Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Play the Waiting Game - Derksen



I look out my back window every morning, hoping to see less snow than the morning before.  Winter, snow, blizzards and the like are getting old. I want it over. I want to see the green haze of spring erupt on tree branches. I want to see farmers till the soil so it can soon have that green sheen of new growth. But…it’s not for me to decide. It’s all in God’s timing so I need to show patience.

That’s hard, isn’t it? Waiting. Waiting for a baby to be born…waiting for the chemo to take affect and the tumor to shrink…waiting for winter to end…waiting. We wait for a friend to finally understand that God is who He said He is and that He can do what He says He can do. We wait for an injury to heal so we can pick up our life where it was and carry on.

The world we live in swarms with instant this and instant that. When I was a young woman, I used to write home a couple of times a year. It would take a couple of weeks for my parents to receive a letter. Now we can turn on the computer and visit online…right now…with our daughter who lives in Pennsylvania. We can pick up the phone anywhere we are because we carry it with us. We don’t even have to wait until we get home to see who left us a message.

God wants us to take time. He wants us to use time to get to know Him better, to listen for His still small voice. He wants us to focus on His plan for our lives and to appreciate that He takes the time to be with us, plan with us, and wait for His timing. He wants us to stop and appreciate the things around us that He created so we can appreciate His love for us.

Instead we rush…hither and yon…doing sometimes meaningless tasks, busyness that interrupts our quiet time when we could be sitting at his feet absorbing His words. The world has taken on the Martha persona and God wants us to be Marys…enjoying Him, seeking His face.

When I look out the window, all my impatience has not made one iota of difference. In fact, it snowed again last night and the piles are larger than they were the day before. My wanting is not going to make it so and besides my wants are not important in the greater scheme of things. God knows…the best time…the right time…and everything will happen according to His timetable…not mine. I need to learn to relax, enjoy the day, and listen.

Barbara Ann Derksen is currently working on her thirteenth book. She resides in Manitoba Canada. Her books can be found at www.barbaraannderksen.com or at Barnes and Nobles, Amazon.com, and Borders. Vanished and Presumed Dead are also in e-book format. and can be found at www.smashwords.com/books/view/29208

2 comments:

Peter Black said...

Thank you, Barbara Ann.
How current and true to our contemporary life! Yes, we are often so impatient.
Your provoked reflection on how our impatiently pacing the floor when waiting for guests or family to arrive, and going to the window to see if they're yet in sight every 30 seconds, does nothing to hasten their arrival.

Violet N. said...

What a beautiful photo, Barbara Ann. I checked out your web site and see you live a busy and varied life with lots of time spent in leather, and living the "Easy Rider" lifestyle. All the best in your writing endeavours!

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