When the Waiting is Over

Three years ago this month my wife stepped out of a job that was really a calling.  While she still loved what she did, loved the people she worked with, and loved the children she served, she knew it was it was time for her to transition out. 

Naturally, she began to think about what she would do next.  When she started to explore her options what she heard from God was, “Wait, I have got this.”  She waited.

This was not too difficult in the beginning, but as the weeks turned into months and months turned into years it became harder.

My wife did feel the freedom to volunteer during this season and began serving people through an organization that works with those who are in need of companionship and care.  What she was asked to do ran the gamut from helping someone run errands and taking them out to lunch to bathing those who could no longer bathe themselves.  Sometimes what she was asked to do was outside of her comfort zone, but she did it anyway, seeing it as an opportunity to love.

Her willingness to engage with people in whatever need they had gave her the opportunity to be with them and their families in some of the most impactful moments of life.  She had the privilege of helping families walk through the transitions which come as age and disease take their course, encouraging those in families who found themselves in the position of caregiver, and being there as loved ones slipped into eternity.  While what she was asked to do was not always comfortable, these moments made her service sacred.

Still, she wondered when she would be released from the waiting.  There would be times where she would start looking for a job, career or calling and what she would hear as she sat at the computer searching was God whispering, “I told you to wait.  Trust me.”

At one point she had a large regional church in Southern California want her to be their Children’s Director.  It was not only a position she knew and loved, it would be working for a well known church she respected and with whom she shared a common philosophy of ministry.  It seemed like a perfect fit, but what she heard God say was, “This is not it, wait.” 

When she called and told the person with who had contacted her at the church what God had told her about taking the position, they affirmed her decision, saying, "Your willingness to listen to God is one of the reasons we saw you as a good fit."  I think my wife must have wondered what God was up to, since letting go of this opportunity was akin to letting your dream job slip through your fingers. Yet she had heard Him clearly, so she waited.

Two weeks ago, my wife and I were talking and our conversation led her to look something up on the internet.  As she did, a job posting came up for the organization where she has been volunteering.  I told her she should apply.  I could see she was excited about the possibility, but not wanting to get ahead of God, she asked Him.  She felt the freedom to proceed.

It took only two days before the organization contacted her and asked her to come in for an interview.  When they met the director asked her how she had heard about the position.  Tammie explained she had seen it on the internet.  This puzzled her interviewer because, to their knowledge, no one had posted the job on the site.  She thought it was odd that Tammie found it there, but was happy she did.

One of the things which can be hard about having served as a Children’s Director for 17 years is much of what you did is not completely understood outside of the church.  In the interview, when Tammie went to explain her former job the woman interviewing her stopped her and said, “I know what you did. Your church had a reputation in the community for a very strong Children’s program.”  The comment both affirmed how Tammie had invested her life in the previous season, and it gave hope that this organization could see how the experience could translate into the job which was being discussed.

As they talked the director discoverer Tammie had volunteered in each of the five areas of services the organizations provides.  She was also surprised to find out Tammie had represented them at volunteer fair and had designed the flyer they had recently sent out for printing.  Tammie had done all of these things as simple acts of service in a time of waiting never thinking about how they might be preparing her for what was to come.

She walked out of the interview feeling it went well, but wanting to hold it all loosely.  When you have invested three years in a willingness to wait on God, you do not want to throw it all away simply because there is an opportunity at an organization you believe in and for which you can see yourself working. 

Tammie went home and prayed.  For the first time in three years she did not hear her Heavenly Father tell her to wait.  She began to hope.  Could this be what he had been doing and preparing all along? 

References were checked and a phone call was eventually made offering Tammie the position.  They told her they knew when she walked out of the office, she was the right fit.  Having waited for three years for this moment, Tammie accepted the offer and is now stepping into a position which seems perfect for her gifts, skill sets and passions.  It is a position which God has seemingly been preparing her for in this season of wait.

Looking back now, it seems so clear what God was doing.  All the pieces fit. During that time, however, there was no such clarity.  There was only the call to wait and the choice to trust. 

I am excited for my wife and her new job.  I know because of her unique blend of strategic thinking, gift of administration, creativity and ability to lead people one day someone will say of her work at this organization, “I know what you do; your organization has a strong reputation for compassionate support and care of people.”

But that is not what I am most excited about.  I am most excited to be married to a woman who is willing to wait, even with things were not as clear as they are now and when it cost her, what seemed like, the perfect job.  I am excited through her waiting we as a family experienced once again, at a deeper level, the reality God is indeed trustworthy and can be taken at His word. 

There is always a great temptation to make something happen, to get out ahead of God.  Giving into this temptation never leads to God's best. What we need to develop instead is the capacity to listen for His voice and follow where it leads, even if it is into a time of waiting. 

Waiting gives us an experiential knowledge of God's presence, provision, activity, kindness and love. My wife would tell you this make it worth the wait.

Waiting also develops and grows something in us.  As Tammie said to me, “I will always be different; my relationship with God will always be different, for having walked through this season.” It is the kind of different which builds a foundation which allows you to trust God even greater still. It is the kind of different which leads you places far better than anything you could make happen.  It is the kind of different which is born out of trust and hope and imparts strength and life. Waiting transforms us and allows us to see first hand the traces of the sacred.

Wait for the Lord:

be strong and take heart

and wait for the Lord. - Psalm 27:14

Those who wait for the Lord

Will gain new strength;

They will mount up with wings like eagles,

They will run and not get tired,

They will walk and not become weary. – Isaiah 40:31