When the Answer is Wait

Whether you have grown up in the church or never entered one, everyone has at some point been around someone who has been praying. We pray before we eat. We pray before sporting events. We pray before a big test or presentation. We pray when someone’s health is declining and we feel like it’s all we can do. Maybe you pray knowing God is right there with you and that He is holding your hand through it all. Maybe you don’t even really believe God can hear you or that He cares but you have run out of other options.

The point is: the idea of prayer is not some new concept that we are unfamiliar with. And honestly, the act of prayer itself is often the easy part. (Well except those moments when we are doing it out of complete humility because we can’t do it on our own. But that’s a topic for another day.) The hardest part of praying is listening for the answer.

You’ve probably heard the saying God answers prayers in 3 ways: yes, no, or wait. Everyone gets excited about the yes's. That’s like praying about this new job you want and getting hired on the spot. Typically, everyone hopes for the yes. You can almost picture God as like this gentle, sweet Grandfather that just wants to give you the world.

Then there are the no’s. These tend to happen when we send up those 911 prayers before the test we didn’t study for and hope God will just magically give us the answers. I’m not saying that never happens. But usually He says no in those situations to teach us a lesson.

Then there is the most dreaded answer: WAIT. I know for when I pray, I am not only praying for my circumstance but I am also praying that “wait” is not the answer. We are a society built on instant gratification. So the idea of waiting for an answer is actually the worst. It’s as if God doesn’t tell us the answer right away because then we have to keep coming and talking to Him. Sometimes we are not patient enough to wait for the answer so we leave the issue alone and hope the next time we ask God for something, His response time will be more like kraft mac-n-cheese and less like slow roasting a turkey.

I’m caught in the middle of this whole “wait and see” situation at the moment. I have been presented with an amazing opportunity but I don’t know where God is going to let it take me. And guess what? He hasn’t told me yet! He’s told me to wait and see because where I am now could be very different than where I am in a couple years (or something ridiculous like that). And yeah, it is super frustrating! I hate surprises. I like to know what is going to happen to me. But I also know if I spend all my time trying to over-analyze the whole situation, I’ll going to be totally missing out on the ride He wants to take me on. And that’s not something I am willing to miss out on! So I guess I will be waiting… as annoying as it is.

Life Changes

I did something I didn’t think I would ever do… I quit Chick-fil-A. Everybody knows how much I love the fil-A. Just ask my immersion team. I literally dreamed about those waffled potatoes once a week while we were gone! I knew at some point I would leave for graduate school but that isn’t going to be for another year and a half. I figured it was going to take Jesus coming directly to me and telling me to leave in order for me to really do it! Well, He used some other people to do it, but that’s basically what happened.

About a month ago, our youth pastor at Celebration approached me and asked me to be his student ministry assistant. I was honestly shocked when he asked me. I do lead a group of wonderful 11^th grade girls on Sunday morning, but I had never hinted or hoped for an actual job in student ministry. I just assumed God put those callings people’s hearts and that hadn’t happened to me. I was convinced Aaron had picked the wrong person for this. But I told him I would pray about it even though in the back of my mind I was sure God was going to tell me he was way off (no offense Aaron!).

As an added stressor to this decision, it was also finals week! I know God’s timing is perfect but I didn’t understand why He told Aaron this would be the best week to tell me. I could barely get any studying done because of all of the thoughts and feelings I was having about this decision. So I prayed. Hard. That God would make the right answer obvious soon because I had exams I needed to pass.

The day after Aaron talked to me, I set up a coffee date with Lori Cooley (Lemme tell you, God knew what He was doing putting that lady into my life a long time ago). Anyway, I was on my way to meet with her, crying and praying over what the right answer was. I remember asking God “I just want You to show what the best use of my time is”. And oh so clearly I heard this “Um excuse Me, I think you mean MY time!” This is definitely one of those things that makes me sound like a crazy person if you don’t know about hearing the voice of God. But I’m telling you, I knew it was Him. And that was just the beginning.

In a matter of 2 days, I knew what the answer was. I never did hear God say the words “this is the job I want you to have”. There isn’t a Bible verse with my name in it telling me the correct answer. But God crammed a whole lot of tiny messages and reminders in those 2 days. (which still gave me plenty of time to study for my finals!) There was no doubt in my mind that God had hand delivered this job to me. So I did it. I quit Chick-fil-A.

I know that this job at Celebration is going to be a challenge. And I know I’m way out of my league doing it. But I also know that I am going to have to depend on God’s direct leadership to be successful in this new adventure. And since when has needing to pray more been a bad thing? I am so excited for this new experience. I think it is going to grow me and shape me further into the person God wants me to be. So I’m following His guidance on this journey He has laid out for me. One step at a time.