I hate jumping from heights. The most memorable time I did it, I jumped from a 30ft platform screaming what job I wanted in the Army, and I ran out of breath mid fall, which terrified me even more. “Just how high up am I?” I thought. I was powerless to change the outcome of my decision to jump from the platform. I was stuck in free fall.

For a lot of people, they’ll find themselves in this awkward stage. They’ve made a decision (or someone else made one for them), and now they’re just waiting on the outcome. The die has been cast, the dominoes are falling, they’re floating in free fall – whatever image you want. They’re waiting on the consequences, good or bad.

And waiting sucks. Especially in our spiritual lives.

Waiting is hard for a few reasons:

You feel powerless to affect the outcome. You have time to imagine the worst case scenario. Couple those with the fact that we’re an increasingly impatient culture, and you have a fun recipe for anxiety.

When our anxiety spikes, it gets hard to maintain a good relationship with God. We develop tunnel vision and forget everything else going on around us. We can suddenly forget all the times our loved ones have been there for us and feel like they failed us this time. We can forget all the other times God has been present in our lives, and suddenly run away from Him because we’re scared RIGHT NOW, and He doesn’t seem to be doing anything about it.

Waiting is hard. Without waiting though, we never are truly able to develop faithful patience. Without a willingness to sit in the tension of a waiting room, trusting in something outside of ourselves, we will never be able to live the life God has called us to.

Waiting may be hard, but it’s fruitful.

It can also be exciting.

I love you and there’s nothing you can do about it.