The Drive-Thru Mentality

I absolutely love reading. When I order books online, I consider paying extra so that I can have them delivered the next day. When the book arrives, if it’s a fictional book that I can read through, I am finish it the same day.  I simply abandon all of my other responsibilities to read my book. I don’t like waiting to see what is going to happen at the end of the story. Because of this—this is what happened!  I stopped reading fictional books, I simply felt like I couldn’t pace myself enough to read them without getting behind on my life. It’s almost like I just couldn’t bare the thought of not knowing what was going to happen in the book THAT day.

Any other readers that can relate?

As a mature believer, I have come to realize that there are just some things that take time. Like reading a book or waiting on God to fulfill a promise.

We don’t serve a God that stands over us and waves a magic wand and our promises are in front of us. We serve a Father that makes sure that we are ready for what is coming up next in our lives. There are times in my own personal life where I am so preoccupied by the end of my story (my next destination) that I bypass (responsibilities) everything else that is happening in my life.

The biggest thing about waiting is that if the outcome is uncertain it makes us anxious. If I order my food at the drive thru window and pay for it, I am not worried. I know that I have paid for my food, the servers are cooking it, I know that it’s coming. I may be hungry, but I am not anxious.

Here’s the catch.

Life is not always as certain as a drive thru window. We don’t pull up to a speaker, tell God what we want, and pick it up at the next window. God may have given us instructions on a certain area in our life, but He didn’t tell us exact details about it. And this is where waiting comes in.

So, what do we do while we are waiting? How can I read books but not neglect my entire life in order to get to the end of the story? How can I wait for the promise but not Bypass everything else in the meantime?

Be in expectation of God’s best

Let me explain. When you are waiting for the BIG promise–The marriage. The business. The house. Everything else seems to pale in comparison to that Big dream. But I have learned that every single moment or season in my life is preparing me for what is next. The important thing is that I am aware that while I am waiting, I should expect what is next (whether it is the promise or not) to be God’s BEST for me. How differently would we handle our seasons if we believed that they were God’s BEST for us instead of idle time spent fantasizing over where we wish we were? Let me bring it home for you. While on the way to my house , I am living in a apartment–instead of complaining maybe I should get my finances in order so that I can live peacefully in my new home when I m able to purchase it. (This has been me before) The BEST thing that God could do for me is wait for ME to be mature enough before he gives me my promise!!

Recall his faithfulness

I know its hard when things are just NOT looking what you thought they would look like. I know how it feels to STILL be in a certain situation that we had hoped we could pray our way out of. I’ve learned in the waiting, that one of the best things that I could do was to recall God’s faithfulness. There’s no way to be ungrateful when you start listing the ways that he has made. I’ll start:

*A clean bill of health after 2 hospital stays

*Provision for the children’s school needs

*My daily needs being met

I could literally go on and on.. there were no ways that they anxiety helped my situation. It wasn’t needed. God always fulfilled his promise.

Do what you can

This is another super HARD area for me. OMG! I used to always be stuck because I perceived that I didn’t have enough money to do what I wanted to do (I was waiting) so I ignored the areas that I could improve only to STILL have to face them years later. Let me help you understand. Scenario: I don’t have money to take my children to the movies, so in addition to feeling sorry for myself, I feel inadequate. Instead of that: I can work on the completing the family scrapbook that I already have all of the materials for and involve my children in the process (by having conversation with them) which will create lasting memories. Make sense? In the waiting, it seems like until the bigger dream is realized, we’re stuck. But in the waiting, we can learn to focus on things that we can still do to find fulfillment in our lives. I look back now and can’t believe that I chose anxiety and worry over finding something that I could focus on at the time.

I have learned to slow down. I no longer read my books in one day while ignoring the laundry and the kids. I read when I can and I purposefully plan out time to read when all of my other obligations have been met. And I believe this is how God wants us to be. He doesn’t want us sitting around with our heads down thinking, “when _____________________ (insert your promise) happens I will finally be able to enjoy life! I believe he wants us being progressive in our waiting.

He wants us getting organized, preparing ourselves, sitting with GREAT expectation of what’s to come BELIEVING that it is his best for us in our season.

I am no longer trying to figure out the end goal. I am committed to living day to day from his daily bread, while expecting his next great move to be perfect for this season of my life.

Remember! We serve a perfect, faithful and loving father!!

Here a few scriptures that are helping me through this waiting season:

Psalm 62:5, ESV For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.

Lamentations 3:25-26, NIV The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

Jeremiah 29:11, NIV For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Psalm 33:4 – “For the Word of the Lord is upright, And all His work is done in faithfulness.”

Psalm 37:3 – “Trust in the Lord, and do good. Dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness.”