What to Do While You're Waiting (Larissa Marks - April 20, 2020)

Observation, Perspiration or Inspiration:

In this season I feel like I’m doing a lot of waiting. I’m waiting to hear updates and news that seem to change every few days. I’m waiting for announcements from schools and work about new policies or “we’re now closed until....” memos. I’m waiting to make any meaningful plans because no one seems to know the longer term anything these days. It’s a strange limbo we’re in right now, when most of the scaffolding of our lives has been dismantled.

For many of us, waiting feels uncomfortable and disorienting. I want plans! I like plans. Plans give a sense of security and safety. Who wants to be waiting? Waiting is that strange time at the airport gate, when we’re meandering around with a group of strangers, listening for the comforting voice to announce that it’s finally time to board the plane.

But here we are. Waiting. Pausing. While we’re here in The Long Wait, what do we do? I have a few ideas from past experiences of waiting. I know from my 20-ish years of following Jesus that there are a few good things to do while I wait. Here they are:

Connect with God. Find ways in this season to make space for God and engage with him. Worship, pray, do the Examen, practice the Sabbath. I created some free prayer guides and spiritual formation resources, which you can find here. Try a new way of relating to God this week.

Connect with people (including yourself). Take care of others. Cultivate deeper relationships with people. Shepherd the people who you need to care for. Invest in your relationships with your spouse, your kids, your parents, the people in your faith community. And take care of yourself. Do the daily things that restore your mind, body, and soul - sleep, eat nutritious meals, exercise, make art, take a long shower, turn on music and dance in your living room, tend to your garden, all that good stuff that we sometimes take for granted.

Discern what is most important to you. In times of stripping and dismantling, we’re given new space to dream and design. Think of a big kitchen renovation or even a complete rebuild of a house - you have the freedom to create something amazing! Now is the time to ask the big questions - What is your God-given calling? How are you building your life around what is most important? What are the key roles and relationships that you need to give your best attention to? Figure out what is most important to you, put those things into place, and allow that to be the new scaffolding of your life.

Those are a few things I’m doing during this time of waiting. They are simple, and maybe that's the point. In waiting, we simply must do the right next thing. It isn't complicated. Just do the essential things. I invite you to do these things along with me.

We don’t need to be passive as we wait. We can grow, flourish, and bring forth new life.

Prayer:

Lord, be with us as we wait. Help us be attentive to you as we wait. Bring to new life the things that have been dormant or buried. Do the good, deep stuff in us that only you can do. Thank you, Lord. Amen.

An Idea:

Develop a rhythm for life for this week that creates daily space to connect with God, connect with others, and do what's important. What is one way you can connect with God? One way you can connect with others? One way to live out your God-given calling? Do those things daily. For more on creating a Rhythm For Life, here's a simple guide.

Please share in the comments below - what good things are you doing in this season of waiting? What are you wanting from God during this time?