Lessons Learned While Waiting
The last thing most of us want to do is to wait. Who's got time for all of that? Up until 2020, we've been so accustomed to having things our way and when we want them that many of us lost the value in waiting. Before last year in most places, it would have been unfathomable to think we would live in a world without 24/4 access to what we want and when. Although living in delay, there were valuable lessons we learned while waiting.
Even through the pandemic of Covid-19 (no matter how you feel about it) a lot of the world was still able to order their needs right to their doorstep through things like Amazon and Uber Eats and Door Dash, but it the service may have been a bit delayed. The world has found out that even though they no longer have unlimited access to Walmart, life goes on. There are so many lessons to be learned while waiting for what we are working towards to materialize.
3 Lessons From Waiting in 2020
Lesson 1 : The Value in Planning Ahead
Before the world got turned upside down, many people lived on a whim. That all stopped when the US ran into a toilet paper shortage and became the laughing stock of the world for their choice of hoarded goods. While other parts of the world make great use out their goods and live minimalistically, here is the US, the mainstream often didn't give much thought to conservative lifestyles.
"Always Plan Ahead. It wasn't raining until Noah built the ark." Richard Cushing
In facing the reality of a shortage of our needs, wants and resources, many of us learned the value of planning ahead. It made us stop where we were at and to truly evaluate what we did have and what we truly needed.
By creating a strategy and game plan for simple things like shopping, we became more efficient at the use of our time. We learned the value of not living by impulse. The waiting taught us to think and live more conservatively. Planning ahead opened us up for the possibility having more freedom in our time and a better handle on our finances.
Lesson 2: Character is Shaped by Learning to be Patient
The phrase 'patience is a virtue' couldn't have been more evident than it was last year. There are many times in all of our lives that "test" our patience, but most of the time as we are going through these points we don't realize that we truly are being tested. For most people patience doesn't come naturally. It is a learned behavior.
"Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude with waiting." Joyce Meyer
Lesson 3: Faith is Truly Believing in What We Cannot See
"We must remember what He has already done for us. We must not allow difficult times to drive us to seeking help from anywhere else but from God. Help will not come from anyone else BUT God. Similar to the Children of Israel, our complaining, rebellion, idol worship, and fear, will extend our stay into the wilderness (Numbers 14:33-35)." Shauntelle @telle.em
My friend Shauntelle wrote an amazing article on the the power of waiting and why God delays His answers at times. She explains how our acting out in rebellion and refusing to learn the lessons that God is teaching us truly can delay the process and keep us stuck in the test. Click here to read "What was supposed to take 11 days will take 40 years."
The Lessons Learned in Waiting are Priceless
Learning from our situations will allow us to become stronger in the future. It will help us face similar and even more complicated things we encounter. Its take planning to prepare ourselves for what it is to come. Plans do not always work out how we envision them, however we can still gain wisdom in the process.
Patience is needed to get through these times so that we can look back and uncover that they are often blessings in disguise that we could not see while we were going through them. It takes faith to believe in what we cannot see just as much as it takes faith to trust and hope for the future and take our trials as lessons instead of setbacks or failures. Strengthening our faith will help us get there. If you're ready to take the next step and need guidance, connect with me.
Keep Smiling Always,
Cariss
For more inspiration visit my blog, or @gracefullythreaded . Can't wait to connect with you!