Today, I spent some of my time volunteering for the children’s program at my church. I helped teach the kindergarten class a Bible story, and ended up getting a lot more out of it than I expected.  I was reminded of an important spiritual discipline because of the story that we taught the children; it was a lesson on patience.

The theme of the night was “waiting for God,” and essentially we tried to teach the kids that sometimes (a lot of the time), we don’t get what we want right away. We have to wait for it, and we have to be patient while we wait. We told them the Bible story about Joseph, a man who spent a lot of time patiently enduring the unfortunate circumstances that life took him through. The moral of the story was that sometimes we go through things in life that we don’t like, and we might not understand why we’re going through them. But if we want to be focused on God, then we should be patient and wait for God to reveal His will for us. We can do this with faith because we know that God loves us and has good plans for us.

This lesson was simple, but profound. It was a good reminder for me to enjoy my life every day, and not just wait for something I think will be better in the future. Even though I’m excited to transfer to my new college at the end of this semester and move onto the next stage in my life, I know that the timing isn’t right at this moment. I need to finish this semester first to complete the courses that I’ve already started, some of which will transfer to my new school. There would be no point for me to withdraw from my university right now because classes at my new school don’t start until January, and I would have nothing to do between now and then, which wouldn’t be good for me. And most importantly, I feel that God is calling me to stay at my current school until the end of the semester to wrap up a lot of my ties there in a healthier way than I could if I just left all of a sudden. Yes, it’s pretty clear to me that God is telling me to wait right now, because things will be much better in the future if I do.

Sometimes, of course, it may not be that clear when God is asking us to wait, and when He is telling us to go. Some people seem to believe that waiting for God just means waiting. When my husband and I decided to get married, for instance, we were told that we should trust God and wait for the right time. They felt that it wasn’t the right time and that we needed to wait. But what did they base this opinion on? Was it really God? I don’t think so. Cory and I felt that God was giving us the green light to get married because we were both ready. But those people told us that waiting was a more Godly decision, and I have a suspicion that it had a lot more to do with their own personal biases than it had to do with God’s will for us. You see, waiting for God doesn’t simply mean waiting. We are allowed to make decisions and take action, when the time is right. The trick is to seek God’s will earnestly and patiently, and then make a decision and act on it. Of course, the first part is much harder than it sounds.

So how exactly do we seek God’s will earnestly and patiently? I wrote about this in detail in my post a couple of weeks ago called “Decisions, Decisions…”, and I went through my whole system of Godly decision making. Now, the only problem with that is that I’m not God. I can’t tell you that my way is the right way or that my way is the way that God would want you to do it. All I can tell you is that I think that my way of seeking God’s will is as close as I can get to the way God wants me to do it right now. So take it or leave it, but if you decide to leave it then just try to remember this one thing; seek God’s will in the best way that you know how, and make sure that it’s compatible with the God that we know from the Bible, because He’s the real deal.

To sum up, here is my system: pray, listen, research, seek counsel, take care of yourself, and love others. Pray to ask God what His will for you is; listen for His answer; research His nature in the Bible; seek the counsel of other Christians you trust; take care of your needs; and put loving others above your own desires. If one or more of these steps doesn’t seem to yield results, then that’s ok. What are the results of the other steps telling you? Start there. If none of these steps seems to yield results (as in, you don’t really hear a clear “right answer” from God through any of these avenues), then perhaps you are putting too much thought into it. Are you trying to seek God’s will on what pair of shoes you should buy? Chances are, He’s alright with either choice. If it’s a serious decision you are trying to make, though, then He probably has a specific plan for you. So if you aren’t hearing anything, then it’s probably because you are hearing exactly what He wants you to hear; His silence. He’s telling you to wait.

When God tells you to wait, that doesn’t mean to stop seeking Him. Continue praying, focusing on thanking Him for his goodness and requesting the things that you need. Continue to live in a way that pleases God, even in the middle of your waiting. Be patient, knowing that God has great plans for you. Celebrate today for the fact that it is one day closer to the thing you are waiting for, but also just because it is one more day that you get to be an agent of God wherever you are. Delight in the joy that God has for you today and look forward to the future with hope.

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'” –Jeremiah 29:11