In a Little While

When I was 2 years old the first of my siblings, a sister, was born. Before her birth, my favorite phrase was “in a little while. “ I learned that “in a little while” I was going to have a sibling, or according to me, “a brother or a girl.”

Now that I’m older, I realize just how much that tiny axiom applies to daily circumstances. Waiting is something that we do every day. We wait for traffic signals to indicate the appropriate times to stop and go, often impatiently. We wait for meals to cook, or to be served. We wait for the right time to confront people. And for believers, there is an added element; daily we wait for God to give us direction and even for the fulfillment of His promises.

Waiting is often tedious, taxing, making us tenuous and tentative.  We begin to doubt what we’ve heard from God, wondering if it was just our imagination or if what we’ve heard was only wishful thinking. Waiting causes a desperation that is like none other. It somehow justifies in our minds reasons for saying and doing things that we would not ordinarily consider acceptable. Typically patient individuals are suddenly impatient, unwilling to wait for what is to come. Selfishness rises to the front of a list of undesirable behaviors in which we participate.

Fortunately, waiting doesn’t have to be this way! Waiting, in its intended form is meant to be a time of rest, respite, restoration. It is a time to refresh our weary bodies and souls in preparation for what is to come, to heal wounds that have been inflicted. Think about what Isaiah 40:27-31 says:

²⁷ “Why do you complain, Jacob? 
   Why do you say, Israel, 
“My way is hidden from the LORD; 
   my cause is disregarded by my God”? 
²⁸ Do you not know? 
   Have you not heard? 
The LORD is the everlasting God, 
   the Creator of the ends of the earth. 
He will not grow tired or weary, 
   and his understanding no one can fathom. 
²⁹ He gives strength to the weary 
   and increases the power of the weak. 
³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary, 
   and young men stumble and fall; 
³¹ but those who hope in the LORD 
   will renew their strength. 
They will soar on wings like eagles; 
   they will run and not grow weary, 
   they will walk and not be faint.”

When we wait God style, hoping in the Lord, resting in his powerful arms, our wait is not cumbersome.

Rather it is a time that provides reflection and relaxation as we rest in the plans of the Creator who is fully in control of any situation we may encounter. 

Our Heavenly Father never overlooks a detail as he first addresses our human instinct to tense in adversity by reminding us (verse 27) that we are not alone nor are we forgotten, that He is fully capable and is more than strong enough to carry to completion what His promises include without becoming tired or overburdened (verse 28). In fact, He provides that same strength to those who wait, who often are weary, increasing their power as they rely on Him. Waiting is an opportunity to recharge if we will only view it as such.  

Sometimes, just like my parents undoubtedly did, God tells us “in a little while.” When He tells us this, it’s easy to come unglued, or at least feel like we should, but when we face times of waiting as time for restoration, for healing, of hope, that waiting no longer feels like an eternity; rather it really is a “little” while. When we wait in hopeful anticipation, the fulfillment of that promise will be even sweeter.

We are reminded of this in Habakkuk 2:3;

“For the revelation awaits an appointed time; 
   it speaks of the end 
   and will not prove false. 
Though it linger, wait for it; 
   it will certainly come 
   and will not delay.”

Waiting is essential to our existence. We need the rest from the day to day, week to week, month to month chaos that surrounds us. We also need the endurance and stamina that waiting brings through its God given strength, forged through patience and trust. Waiting gives us the ability to trust God even when we don’t understand and can’t see what’s ahead and in doing so, it develops a dependence on him in its quietness and character that is so pervasive it is not easily broken.

So next time God replies with an “in a little while,” remember that He is doing this for our good, that He is in control, and that even though we may seem forgotten and alone, He does see, He knows, and will fulfill His promise in its timing. When that time is over, you will have received more than the fulfillment of that promise; you will have learned the benefit of the wait.