THE WEIGHT OF THE WAIT

By Christine Jayakaran

April 24^th, 2024

Hi. I’m Christine. I’m a terrible wait-er.

That’s the truth. I struggle to wait. I cry in the wait. I journal whole books in the wait which will mostly have my words of frustration scribbled across pages interspersed with questions for God.

We just finished watching a TV show and it was towards the end of Season 1 of this show that there was a jump of 6 months between one episode and the next. So when watching the new episode, relationships that were previously crumbling where now mended, a rough college education was ending with a graduation and a baby birthed in the last episode was now 6 months old and eating solid food! I actually had to pause the episode to take it all in and that’s when it dawned on me. No wonder I was so pathetic at waiting! As a generation who now watches TV on demand we have no need to wait. To top it all, new episodes (not seasons) were jumping months ahead with their storyline, making us feel like life moves at that pace for every single human everywhere.

There was no mention of the seemingly endless nights, the quiet tears in a dark room, the jarring reality of bad news or the pregnant pauses that feel very long and enending. Truth be told, not many of us would watch a show that runs at snail pace and at real time.

The sobering reality though, is that life goes one day at a time at the pace God means for it to go.

I cannot fast-forward to my moment of breakthrough.

I cannot hurry away the present struggles.

I cannot jump-cut my way out of a present crisis.

I cannot rush my miracle. The wait is necessary. It’s essential in fact.

A friend of mine recently preached at church saying “God is not into microwaving as much as he is into marinating”. No wonder the Christian life is full of waiting.

So here’s a reminder for all my fellow wait-ers out there. What you see on those shows isn’t the real deal. Your current situation with your health may need a course of treatment or a period of rest. Don’t rush through that. A relationship may have ended but you must continue living your life, one day at a time. Keep studying, or working but don’t rush into anything just because you can’t stand the loneliness. If God gave you His word about healing, restoration, reconciliation or a miracle - take Him at His word. Don’t box Him into your timeframe (that always gets disappointing). Give Him complete control on how and when He will bring His word to pass.

I am now learning that the best response to the wait is to stay calm and enjoy the marination. Marination requires the contact of the chef with the meat. He kneads the spices into it and allows it to rest so that the full essence can be tasted.

As we wait, may we rest in the fact that God is bringing out the best in me and you. We can’t rush that! Stay in His word. Stay in His presence. Let Him do what He does best!