A few months ago, you may recall, I wrote a piece about enjoying the journey in favor of prioritizing the destination and going full-steam ahead toward it to the point that everything else falls to the wayside. (It’s okay if you don’t remember.) The ultimate point of it was to illuminate that instead of focusing on the end of your internship or college career, embrace the time you have left, so as to fully immerse yourself in the present moment. And now a few months later, I stand by that and what I have for you now is an extension of that advice. It is not enough to embrace the journey and its high points as you move forward to the destination, but an appreciation of all aspects of the journey, especially the incredibly tedious points where it feels like absolutely nothing has happened, is happening and will happen. Hint: Those are the very moments that will define the rest of the journey, shape your faith, and impact your very perception of life itself.

I said all this to illuminate the fact that in all of our lives, at one point on another, we reach what we feel is an impasse or what I will call the meantime. The meantime is the very best time because it is in that time that we truly see who God is, what we are made of, and most importantly, what we, through God, are capable of. The meantime is a time of shaping, testing, and preparing for what will be accomplished and earned at the destination. Case in point, one of my favorite scriptures, by the way, is in 1 Samuel 16, Samuel goes to Jesse’s home, who is David’s father. It is a beautiful story in it itself, but if you would like a glimpse of how God works, then I definitely recommend it. Ultimately, Samuel was instructed by God to anoint the next king, who would be one of Jesse’s sons. Initially, Samuel believes it will be one of David’s brothers, but it turns out to be David, who was the youngest son, and ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. (1 Samuel 16:12). I reference this passage not simply because I love it, but also because David was about 12 years old at this time when he was anointed to be the next King of Israel. However, he is not crowned king until the fifth chapter of 2nd Samuel where he is at that time about 30, which means 18 years passed since he was anointed. Now, on the off-chance that sounds a little insane or just like a ridiculously long time, allow me to provide context.

While David was waiting to be King, he was not sitting on his hands and knees just waiting for his crown, or even doubt it would come to pass. Firstly, because God willed it to be so, and so it was going to happen. No one could do anything to stop David’s ascension to King because it was God’s will. Secondly, David didn’t have the time to sit on his hands and knees and just wait for the crown. He had too much to do and his very purpose to prepare for. What you perceive as a long time coming for David was, in actuality, the time God needed to prepare David to rule a nation and not just any nation, but the nation of His chosen people. Think about it like this – before Jesus’ birth, we have the Advent Season to prepare our hearts and the world itself to receive Christ the Savior of the world. In that same way, David needed to prepare to lead the people of God, just as God has to prepare you for what is at your destination. While something is ending, that also means there is something beginning – something that you may not be aware of, but that God is equipping you for.

Waiting is never in vain and if it ever feels as such, it is not because of God but because of us, because of something we’re lacking – be it the patience to wait on God, the faith in God to bring what is next to pass, the faith to believe in a plan you cannot see or all of the above. It may also be because we are sitting around waiting for our prayers to be answered and not doing much else, but that is not the way. As we wait for the next step to be revealed we are not actually merely just waiting but being prepared, we should be continuing to seek God’s face, spending time in His Word, and continuing to live for Him. That does not stop just because we’re waiting for that job, that relationship, or that _______ ( fill in the blank). If we do it the right way,  the very thing we are waiting for and working toward comes naturally, which is to say in God’s time, not ours. I leave you with a quote I came upon last week:

Sometimes, it isn’t about the answer to the prayer. Sometimes, it’s more about what you learn while you’re waiting for the answer.

We are so quick to believe and proclaim that God is not hearing our prayers and ignoring us, but never consider the possibility that His silence is not because He is absent and distant from us, but because He is allotting us the room for us exercise patience, which is truly a virtue, but also to test, refine and transform the faith (in Him) we say we have, as well as allowing us to see what we through Him are capable of, especially when we trust Him. Sometimes, the answer to our prayer is not a yes or no or even a specific date and time when we will get what we prayed for, but a change in us that repositions our thoughts away from asking when, why, and how everything will fall into place and toward the thoughts and a heart like that of David who woke up each day purposed in His heart to live for God.