The Reality of Waiting

As a Christian speaker I occasionally find myself waiting in airports.  Last weekend was one of those times.  I was at the gate waiting to board my plane when a young woman made her way to the seat next to me.  She was carrying two large, stylish purses… and a large clear, plastic bag with a knot tied at the top.  Inside I could see miscellaneous clothes, a pair of tennis shoes, a laptop in a colorful case and a book titled “When Life Goes Wrong.” I smiled at her curiously when she plopped down next to me.  She tentatively returned my smile and explained, “I got bumped from my flight last night because of the snow. I paid a fortune for my three bags.  Last night they weighed my heaviest bag and said that I was good to go.  But today, when I arrived, I was told that it was overweight and that I had to carry the excess in this plastic bag.  I’m tired and I’m just trying to get home.” She added that the book in her bag explained her life at that moment.

I watched her things while she got a cup of coffee and we finally got on the plane.  I thought about how much life feels, at times, like waiting to catch a flight.  We encounter obstacles and the waiting seems enormously long.  But God tells us that the waiting has purpose—that He is working in our lives to make us more suited to our final destination—heaven.  We are going home and nothing can keep us from our timely arrival.  So be faithful even when it seems that God is taking a long time.  He hasn’t forgotten or abandoned you—he’s just working it the details in his way and it is the perfect way.  Remember the encouragement of Psalm 27:13: “I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”