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Waiting with Purpose: Turning Delay into Spiritual Preparation
38 Plays29 days ago
In this episode, Dan, Kyle, Ridley, and Jon talked about the significance of waiting and finding peace in the process. The discussion delved into why waiting is a normal and beneficial part of a Christian's life, emphasizing trust and reliance on God's timing. Drawing on personal anecdotes and scriptural insights, the hosts explored the growth and preparation that occur during periods of waiting. The conversation touched on the challenges of balancing proactive efforts with patience and contentment, offering practical advice on maintaining faith and peace amid prolonged anticipation. Pastor Barron highlighted the importance of focusing on the present moment while aspiring for future goals, ensuring listeners have a comprehensive understanding of navigating life's waiting periods with faith and wisdom.
Timestamps:
05:14 Be patient and treasure the present moment.
07:21 Waiting involves preparation, not just boredom.
11:46 Overthinking shifts focus away from God.
14:49 Maintain faith and righteousness during waiting periods.
16:58 The productivity and importance of waiting.
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Waiting' Theme
00:00:01
Dan Sanchez
Welcome back to another Grove Hill Church podcast. I'm here with Ridley, Kyle, and John, and we're about to jump into the topic from this sermon, which was on the topic of waiting, and it was the but the piece in waiting, or yes, something like that.
Personal Reflection on Waiting
00:00:17
Dan Sanchez
And i I got passionate about it, so passionate that I had to go and put the put a song together and I put it but it out on Facebook. But I was really looking forward to this conversation because waiting is a topic that's near and dear to my heart. It's find that it's just something that I constantly have to preach to myself that waiting is a good thing, that waiting is okay.
00:00:37
Dan Sanchez
But I thought we can go a little bit deeper even while you're preaching the sermon Ridley I was I wrote down the questions like I grabbed the paper from Amy who was taking notes because I forgot my notebook and I'm like give it to me I need to write down these three questions because they're gonna form the basis for this podcast and so I'm gonna jump into these three questions because I find that we all go through periods of waiting and kind of like Trouble right you say it all the time from the stage Ridley where you're like you either going to hit some hard times You're in some hard times or you're just coming out of hard times like it's one of those things and I find that waiting is kind of Waiting goes hand-in-hand with those hard times.
Trust and Waiting: A Divine Connection
00:01:09
Dan Sanchez
Sometimes so like those hard times are directly result of you having to wait So I wanted to kick it off with this question you talked about how waiting is normal for Christians, but I want to ask I
00:01:24
Dan Sanchez
why is why why Why should we consider waiting to be a good thing for us?
Patience: Natural vs. Artificial Growth
The Consequences of Impatience
00:01:28
Kyle
Yeah, I think waiting is directly correlated with our trust in God. If God just constantly gave us right off the bat, we wouldn't have a tendency to rely on Him or long for Him or seek His will. And so that waiting causes us to go, I know He knows the outcome.
00:01:48
Kyle
I don't know the outcome, I'm going to trust him in this time moving forward. And so I think it just builds our faith in him. It builds our trust in him, our reliance on him. like Like Ridley was saying, any good parent isn't going to sit there and just give their kid everything right off the bat. There's things that you want them to endure.
00:02:09
Kyle
so that they're stronger. They know how to handle negative situations. and They know how to trust you. You know you know the best in their situation. They they learn those things. And so God as the ultimate Father is
Making the Most of Waiting
00:02:21
Kyle
going to parent us in a way that causes us to draw near to Him, to rely on Him, to trust Him.
00:02:28
Jon
Yeah, I liken it to the comparison of ah ah the natural versus the artificial in God's timing and in God's design. I think so many things he's always wanted there to be a waiting from Genesis to where you and I are at today. ah But we want the artificial route. I think about so many things that culture does to artificially simulate growth and sometimes speed up stuff that was never intended to be at that time process, which is so shortened and sometimes is a harm for us. So I think we try to do that with our impatience and we end up harming the growth that God has for us because we want it now, we want it quick,
00:03:14
Jon
We want it on our timing. So yeah, I think it's it's good for us to get the natural effects of what God's always designed. And
Balancing Desires and Faith
00:03:21
Jon
that's the waiting, not the, here's my fast food. you know I got my answer in 30 seconds, so.
00:03:29
Dan Sanchez
My dad once shared this fictitious story with me that's left a mark on me. I'm like, it's one of those things I'm like, he probably doesn't even remember saying it, but he said it and I had never forgot where like a a young ah young man was in high school and there was a girl, you know, and he, and like, I can't remember her name, but Susie, you know, they were really good friends on the line of being in a relationship.
00:03:53
Dan Sanchez
He's like, man,
00:03:55
Dan Sanchez
I wish this could go faster. And I think he got his his his wish because he was given this like magic like ball with a little string in it. And however much he pulled the string, time would pass. So if he just gave it a little nudge, 30 minutes might go by. Or if he gave it a long pull, like years could go by.
00:04:14
Dan Sanchez
So in class, he was waiting. He's like, you know, I'd really like to be at lunch right now. So we give a little nudge and bam, he's at lunchtime. A few days go by. He's like, you know, I'd really like it if Susie and I, I could see where this is going. I'm pretty sure she's the one. Let's just get to this marriage thing because I really just want to spend all my time with her. So he pulls this, he gives a good long hit on the string, on the ball to pull the string out and churn up years go by.
00:04:38
Dan Sanchez
and him and Susie are married, but you know, they're they're newlyweds and don't have anything and he's working a job and he's like, you know, this could be a little bit more comfortable as we don't we don't even have money to like enjoy, go out to eat, you know, hardly. So he pulls on the he pulls on the thread some more and now they got kids and he's like, man, this is a good life and I love my kids, but.
00:04:58
Dan Sanchez
You know, I, I just, I just want more time but with, with Susie, you know, I, I really they would just like some time. So he gives it the biggest poll he could ever muster. And, uh, all the kids are almost nearly out of the house. And the problem is Susie now has cancer, you know, and that's like, oh, that's a sad story. But like, I remember my dad told it to me and maybe it's because it has that sad ending where like, he just wanted and wanted and wanted and didn't can and couldn't wait for the end.
00:05:25
Dan Sanchez
that you realize you're like, man, you got to treasure the moments leading up to it. it's you will You will waste your life away chasing the thing that you're coming after.
00:05:34
Dan Sanchez
And as simple as that story is, it's it's one that stuck with me to be patient, essentially, to be patient for the thing and enjoy the moment. And maybe that's the lesson for waiting is like, you got to learn how to be content in the moment.
Preparation During Waiting Periods
00:05:50
Dan Sanchez
So my next question is, what can we do while we're waiting? How can we make the most of it? Yes, there's a thing dangling in front of us that we want to go after, but sometimes we can't have it right away. So what should we be doing in the meantime?
00:06:04
Kyle
I've always been in occupations where there was room for promotion. And one of the biggest things a sergeant told me one time was to be where your feet are. um Stop looking ahead. And so, you know, guys would get on the job and they'd look for that position that they were trying to shoot for. And they would do a bad job at their current position because they were looking ahead the whole time.
00:06:29
Kyle
And so the sergeant was, to me, it was like genius insight to my faith is to be where your feet are. Like wherever you're at in your life, that's where your mission field is. That's where your ministry is.
Contentment vs. Future Desires
00:06:40
Kyle
And so while there may be something that you're looking forward to, or there may be something in the future that you're you're shooting for a goal, you can't neglect what's going on in your life. And so if you're looking, sometimes people get consumed by the thing that they're being patient for.
00:06:55
Kyle
And so if it is a job, um, um, promotion, you might be so consumed with that, that you're neglecting your family at home. And so we have to be very mindful that waiting could be 10, 15 years.
00:07:11
Kyle
And are we going to waste what we're, don't waste the waiting, right? Pastor said that on Sunday, don't waste it.
00:07:16
Kyle
Um, you're there for a reason. You're in that time that season for a reason.
00:07:22
Jon
I think of that term waiting and I think about sitting in a ah doctor's office waiting room and you know, there's the magazines over on the side, but other than that, you're just sometimes staring at a wall or, and I think that we think about this term waiting and we think about boredom. We think about, we just correlate those two terms and it's not that at all. I think there's a lot of preparation that goes into this waiting. Um, we think about,
00:07:50
Jon
What do you do before a wedding? Um, Um, before that moment, there's so much preparation. Uh, and I think that we've got to look at those 24 hour windows. I was just in an email conversation talking with somebody about them starting out their walk day to day. They're a new believer.
00:08:09
Jon
They can't look two years down the road to what Kyle said and saying, hey, I want to be this type of Christian. Sometimes you have to look at the 24 hours in front of you and say, I'm going to make baby steps and let this be a part because
00:08:25
Jon
I don't know what two years looks like or four years because I may not even have that, but I have right now. I have this opportunity to take this step and that's what I can control. That's where I honor God by doing this in the wedding, just preparing myself. so
Overcoming Obsession With Patience
00:08:42
Kyle
If you look at any time in scripture that somebody's and waiting, it's typically, we get the hindsight of 2020 of seeing these these stories play out. God's teaching them something. God's refining them. God's getting them into a place of obedience. god's There's so many constructive things that happen during the waiting, that it's almost we do ourselves a disservice by getting to where we want to be. And so we need to be fully aware of where we're at and what God's trying to show us and what better time in a time of need or want to be drawing close and needing and wanting the Lord.
00:09:19
Kyle
Oh, thank you.
00:09:21
Kyle
i I tune in every once in a while.
00:09:24
Dan Sanchez
It's certainly good in like, it's certainly good in like the little moments.
00:09:27
Dan Sanchez
And I think we could all put down our phones and just be still, like literally just do nothing. Just listen, even have a quiet prayer.
00:09:38
Dan Sanchez
What do you think about in the longer term situations where you're waiting for something to happen?
Finding Peace Through Trust in God
00:09:45
Dan Sanchez
I've noticed there is moments where I've seen people, this usually happens in like a I'm single and I want to be married thing, but I guess it can happen in a lot of different contexts where you want the thing, but then you pretend not to want it because you're being patient.
00:10:01
Dan Sanchez
Does that make sense? You're just like, I don't want it, I don't want it, I don't want it, I don't even care.
00:10:05
Dan Sanchez
But secretly deep down inside, I really want it.
00:10:10
Dan Sanchez
And it's not even a bad thing to want.
00:10:11
Dan Sanchez
They want good things.
00:10:16
Dan Sanchez
what should we do? should we Should we open about wanting it? Just try to make the most of it and putting in putting that energy into the preparing ourselves for the thing? thing? um Or should we kind of let it go and let it come back to us?
00:10:30
Kyle
I think it depends on whether you're, I think it depends on whether you're obsessing over it or not.
00:10:30
Dan Sanchez
Maybe.
00:10:34
Kyle
Um, it's something you're obsessing over, oftentimes I'll tell someone if they're obsessed over, typically it's a girl, right? The the boy's obsessed with her, but she wants nothing to do with them.
00:10:47
Kyle
his brain can only focus on that. And so a word of advice would be like, hey, if God wants this to happen, he's gonna bring this around and you're gonna encounter each other in a few years or college or after college or whatever it may be.
00:11:00
Kyle
And so sometimes you have to look at whether the person's healthily waiting on whatever this decision is, or if it's an obsession or a consumption of their mind.
00:11:10
Kyle
um um Sometimes you have to instruct someone to step away. And so I do that with with myself as well. if i'm obsessing over something that I'm waiting for an answer, i I go, okay, God, this isn't healthy because it's consuming my time. I'm gonna put it all on your hands and trust that whatever decision you come up with in whatever time you be okay with it.
00:11:31
Kyle
But you could you could anticipate, like Ridley said, you could look for that job promotion, but you also have to look at what you're doing right now and almost balance, like making sure that you're healthily approaching this weighting.
00:11:46
Jon
Yeah, i would I would say the same thing. I think sometimes we overthink stuff too much, and I'm talking to myself as well. I will overthink some stuff to death, and man, I'm putting myself way too much at the forefront. if I'm just simply honoring God by my worship of how I wake up, how I live my life in all these circumstances, and then I go to bed, I'm good. I think, again, whether it's even marriage, um not not saying that there doesn't need to be plenty of thought that goes forward to that. But again, to Kyle's point, we will obsess about so much of who is this person? What is this job that you will start to see the time in your 24 hour day
00:12:33
Jon
Focus so much on that thing that God just gets put to the back burner. ah A burner. ah A lot of times whenever you place God at the forefront, again, we can say, oh yeah, that that's cliche. You do. If you put God in those things, you're gonna run into circumstances. Life is going to happen. But if you keep him at the forefront, a lot of those things will just kind of fall in that lane of happening the way that he desires it. Again, with marriage jobs,
00:13:04
Jon
kids a lot of times in fact i bring up the analogy or the illustration i've seen parents, that desire to have kids, they, man, I really want to have kids.
00:13:16
Jon
I want to do this. And they end up stressing or obsessing over that. But when they focus and turn their attention to God, sometimes their own physical ah reaction to that focus on God and away from their inability to have kids at that point sometimes allows them to have the ability to have children.
00:13:36
Jon
So yeah, just just think that that's sometimes the over complication that we all can get in the modes of.
00:13:45
Dan Sanchez
clicking in my head a bunch of different things. And I'm like, man, it's almost like God laid the the universe with these this thing called wisdom. Because it seems like whenever you if you want something really, really bad, it tends to flee from you. Right. And in sales, every salesperson knows it. Like if you if you're desperate, man, people can smell it on you and you will sell them nothing.
00:14:06
Dan Sanchez
right But it's that way it's that way in dating too. like if you're If you're desperate, you're gonna come it's going to be awkward, you're going to be obsessive, yourenna you're going to turn everybody away from both sides.
00:14:16
Dan Sanchez
right But even that the example you just gave of having a baby, and of course this is it's kind of complicated so you don't really know what's happening, but it could be that like you know the stress is keeping you from doing it because of the amount of anxiety you're experiencing.
00:14:28
Dan Sanchez
There's many reasons that could be going on. um still, it's almost like God's made the world showing like, hey, like contentment, contentment, that you get more when you, yes, desire things and pursue them, but don't obsess over them when you want it, but don't necessarily feel like you need it, like your life depends on it.
00:14:49
Kyle
Yeah, when good.
00:14:52
Kyle
All right, I was thinking when when ah ah when I'm instructing people on those waiting periods, um I kind of go back to the basics on and what's your prayer life look like? What's your scripture reading or time with the Lord look like? And then what's your obedience look like? Because when we get impatient in those times of waiting, sometimes we try to find other ways and we do other things.
00:15:14
Kyle
or we're not we're like, okay, God's not paying attention to me right now. I'm gonna do this sin or whatever. And so it's almost like we have to remind ourselves in those times of desperation to continue to walk in righteousness, um um that each step that we take is in a righteous manner, making sure that we're honoring God, because he's gonna notice that.
00:15:34
Kyle
He's gonna see that. He's gonna see our obedience to him. And so um if in that time of waiting and you're like, what do I do? and go back to the basics of just spending time praying and waiting patiently.
00:15:48
Dan Sanchez
I tend to like to be obsessive and go after things and run. But with this one, there is a balance between being proactive and intentional, yet being patient and content.
00:16:01
Dan Sanchez
It's ah it's line to walk. And you're well probably all at different points. I know even in right now, like run to one side and then the other trying to stay on that narrow path of being diligent, yet being patient and content.
00:16:15
Dan Sanchez
So any final thoughts?
00:16:16
Kyle
Yeah, if you if you don't have and and scale to look at whether you're impatient or not is if you have peace in your life.
00:16:26
Kyle
um If you don't have peace, then you're not relying on God, you're not trusting God. um But if you've if you've surrendered that to him, whatever your mindset is of, you may want that thing to happen or you may desire it.
00:16:39
Kyle
But if you've fully surrendered it to him, you're going to experience peace about whatever that outcome may be, whenever that outcome may be.
Final Thoughts: Waiting as a Productive Process
00:16:47
Kyle
And so gauge it. If you're like, man, I do not have peace about the situation, then you're more than likely relying on yourself or your timeframe on when you want this thing to come about.
00:16:58
Dan Sanchez
Fantastic. Gentlemen, thank you for joining me to talk more about waiting as uncomfortable as it can be. I find it's one of the most productive things we can do because everybody, somebody in our congregation is waiting or about to be waiting real soon.
00:17:09
Dan Sanchez
So these are always lessons worth wrestling with while we're on our way there or waiting right now.