Waiting Isn't a Waste (eBook)

Introduction

Wasting Our Waiting

Isaiah 40:31

This book is about the “gaps of life” and how the Bible calls us to fill the void of uncertainty by waiting on God.

That’s not a new concept.

Waiting on God is an ancient idea found throughout the Bible. However, it’s easy to ignore or dismiss. We might be tempted to write off waiting on God as “old school” or as a spiritual theme relegated to an era of history where Christians seemed a bit too serious. What’s more, most of us don’t enjoy waiting for anything. As a result, we tend to view the gaps of life as something—at best—to be tolerated. Add some stress or pain or time into the mix, and you probably know what happens. Rather than worshiping our way through uncertainty and experiencing peace, our tendency is to fill the gaps of life with fear, anxiety, frustration, or anger.

For most of us, waiting feels like a waste.

I’ve been there. I am there.

That’s why I’ve written this book.

Confessions of an Impatient Multitasker

Some books are written out of personal expertise. Not this one! I wrote this book because I see a need in myself and in those around me. In full disclosure, not only am I terrible at waiting, but it seems I have a natural bias against it. “Doesn’t everyone?” you might ask. That’s probably true at some level. But when I say I’m bad at waiting, I mean it. It’s been a problem for a long time.

Let’s start with my last name. Good luck trying to pronounce it, although it’s much easier than you’d think. Vroegop is Dutch. What you probably don’t know is that most Dutch last names mean something practical. That’s because in the 1800s Napoleon required my forefathers to select a last name. Other families chose names associated with their work: Shoemaker (shoe maker), Bakker (baker), or Meijer (steward). Others identified their kin by a location: Vander Meer (from the lake), Boogaard (from the orchard), or Vander Molen (from the mill). What about my last name? Vroegop literally means “early up.” To this day it makes me smirk. You see, when my great-great-great-grandparents considered what we would name ourselves, they made a statement about how early we get out of bed. They could have chosen napper, slow, Sabbath keeper, or loves sleep. Nope. My last name and its meaning creates an identity: “Mark Early Up.” As a child, I remember my family valuing rising early, being productive, and personal discipline. My mom used to say, “Work hard. Play hard.” This mindset is part of who I am.

Not waiting is literally in my last name.

My personality doesn’t help either. I’m decidedly pro-action. I love to work and accomplish things. I like to do things in the right way and fix what’s broken. If you are into personality tests, you might not be surprised to learn that I have the Activator talent on Strengths Finder, and I’m probably an Enneagram 1. Based upon the DISC test, I like to see results. A great day off for me is a to-do list with lots of completed tasks. Getting things done energizes me, and I’ve read a lot of books about productivity. When I attended a Franklin Planner seminar thirty years ago, I was captivated with making the best use of “discretionary time.” In my first professional job, I’ll never forget when a vice president at a Christian college commended me for bringing work to do while I waited for an appointment with him to begin. I’m pretty sure that sitting quietly, daydreaming, or engaging his secretary in small talk would not have been recognized. I learned quickly that multitasking and working hard were rewarded. They made me feel affirmed.

Unfortunately, pastoral ministry and theological education made my aversion for waiting worse. I gravitated toward verses about life stewardship (“To whom much was given, of him much will be required,” Luke 12:48) and redeeming the time (“ . . . making the best use of the time, because the days are evil,” Eph. 5:16). The endless demands of ministry created a spiritualized “fifth gear” in my drive. When I learned that a respected leader or a Puritan slept only four hours a day, I found another justification for passionate activity. Upon reading Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper, I deeply resonated with the theological vision of living passionately for the glory of God. I was determined not to waste my life.

But in the process of not wasting my life, I wasted something else: my waiting.

The last few years surfaced a deep deficiency in how I think about and practice waiting on God. The global pandemic that we thought would last a few months dragged on for two years. Cultural divisions and church controversies created countless no-win decisions. I can’t remember a time when I was more aware of the massive gaps in life. I felt powerless all the time. When my old patterns of overworking, overthinking, and overplanning didn’t work, I found myself filling this canyon of uncertainty with anxiety, fear, and frustration. While I knew how to lament the grief I felt, I didn’t know how to wait on the Lord with this massive tension.

I needed to stop wasting my waiting.

I still do.

The Aim of This Book

I wish this journey was complete, but it feels like it’s just begun. I’ve got a long way to go. There are a lot of gaps to consider. Life is full of uncertainty. I expect you agree. In fact, you may have picked up this book because you’re in a season of waiting. Perhaps it relates to your career, singleness, marriage, pregnancy, health, relationships, or some conflict. The list could be even longer because we’re always waiting. Maybe you’ve noticed a higher degree of simmering frustration, pervasive anxiety, low-grade anger, or a concerning cynicism in your life, and you’d like to change. Perhaps you sense that waiting isn’t a strength, and you’re curious about how to grow in this area. Or God may be preparing you for a season that’s around the corner, and this book is one way to get you ready. Regardless of the circumstances, I’m glad you’re considering this topic.

Everyone waits.

I don’t think we do it very well.

The aim of this book is to help us take steps in learning to wait. My goal is to unpack this definition: Waiting on God is living on what I know to be true about God when I don’t know what’s true about my life. And I hope that by the time you are finished, you’ll no longer waste your waiting; I hope you’ll see waiting as redemptive, something helpful.

How Do We Wait?

This book assumes that we will wait. The question is: How can we learn to wait on God in a way that leads to transformation and peace?

As we’ll see along this journey together, waiting is a theme throughout the Old and New Testaments. Probably the most well-known verses are found in Isaiah 40. They’re promises given to God’s people as they faced national uncertainty and personal pain. Israel wondered if God had forgotten them and if there was no hope in things turning around. Isaiah reminds them about who God is and then offers the promise of renewed strength:

Why do you say, O Jacob,

and speak, O Israel,

“My way is hidden from the Lord,

and my right is disregarded by my God”?

Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary;

his understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the faint,

and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Even youths shall faint and be weary,

and young men shall fall exhausted;

but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk and not faint. (Isa. 40:27–31)

That’s an amazing promise! I want to understand and embrace this biblical vision. I yearn for the kind of power, strength, and perseverance that’s promised in this text. Don’t you? I’m tired of wasting my waiting. Aren’t you? I want to learn how to wait on God.

If you look ahead, our path is marked out by six chapters. I’ve chosen a characteristic for each one because the issue isn’t if we wait, but how we wait.

So, how do we wait on God?

• Honestly: waiting is hard
• Frequently: waiting is common
• Thoughtfully: waiting is biblical
• Patiently: waiting is slow
• Intentionally: waiting is commanded
• Collectively: waiting is relational

Waiting is not just part of our humanity; it’s vital to Christianity. That’s why the Old and New Testaments talk about it so often. Like many other things, including suffering and the...