I spent a large part of my summer travelling round Europe on trains; it was a pretty brilliant thing to do. We would spend all day looking round some amazing places: the Collosseum, the canals of Venice, stunning lakes in Slovenia, the Berlin Wall, Prague Castle... And then after a couple of days we would just get on a train and make our way to the next city. But we probably spent as much time waiting as we did sightseeing. We waited for trains to arrive, got on them, waited hours for them to get into the next place, waited for the bus to the hostel and by the time we arrived we were so tired of waiting that we had to wait until the next morning to really see the city.
It’s easy enough to wait for a train when you know you’re going to be arriving at the Collosseum by the end of the day. But when the outcome is uncertain, it’s much harder just to wait. Going into my third year this term is a huge time of waiting for me, the end of my student days are in sight, and I don’t have a clue what the future holds; jobs, relationships, what city I will be living in, whether I’ll ever pay off my student loan. I just don’t know. It’s is a bit like waiting for a train and not knowing where I’m going to be getting off.
Jesus tells us: “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks the door will be opened. Which of you if his son asks for bread will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
We know that God won’t always give us what we want, but he is a generous Father; he will always give us what is best for us. Believing this and living this are two very different things; I am asking God to be in control of my future, but waiting for this is hard; it can be painful, and frustrating but we know that God will only give us good gifts if we ask him. And we often come out of this time of waiting more patient, more trusting and with great gifts from him- so if Jesus is right and God will give us good gifts when we ask him, then this is surely a train worth waiting for regardless of where it’s going. But part of waiting is all about trusting- we have to trust that God has it in his hands; Jesus says that he’s not just going to ignore your requests when you ask him, so if we really believe this, we need not just to wait but to trust.
What things are you waiting for? Are you asking God to be in control of that situation? I pray that God would make us more patient, more trusting and better waiters. Imagine the blessings when we get off the waiting train and see the gifts God wants to give to us! I know it will be worth it.
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