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Note: This post is part of the Two Weeks of Waiting Devotional. To return to the table of contents for the devotional, click here. To read this as a downloadable ebook, subscribe below.
One summer when I was in my early 20s, my brother and I booked a two month backpacking trip through Europe. (By booked, I mean we booked a flight to Europe and a flight home. The rest, we decided, we’d figure out when we got there.)
We ended up traveling to over 8 different countries during those two months, and, as you can probably imagine, a lot of the trip was actually spent waiting. Do you know what the lines look like to see places like the Vatican and paintings like the Mona Lisa? Not to mention the waits at the most highly-rated restaurants! We waited in airports to board planes; on trains to get to our destinations. We spent countless hours walking with giant backpacks, sweating and waiting until we found a hostel that we hoped would have a vacancy when we arrived. (That’s what happens when you don’t have cell phones.)
One of my favorite memories of that trip was on a train to Switzerland. That train ride took forever. We had purchased the cheapest tickets, of course, which meant that we didn’t technically have a seat on the train. So we bounced around, finding open seats until the train made some stops along the way and new passengers kicked us out of the seats they had paid for. We finally ended up standing in the passageway of a standing-room-only train in between two train cars, holding on for dear life as the train wound up and down and around the Swiss Mountains.
That train seemed to speed up around curves, taking them at a reckless clip rather than a slow and steady pace, and before long my brother was looking positively green. Then suddenly the train halted to a screeching stop, and the open bag of chips I was holding onto flew forward, spraying the contents everywhere– on the floor and, much to their dismay, the other passengers. When they all turned to look at us, I can only imagine what they saw– giant backpacks, my brother sick on the floor, and chips strewn all over the train car, the empty bag in my hand giving me away. A lady turned to give me a death glare. I couldn’t stop laughing.
Don’t get me wrong, Switzerland ended up being the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen, but when I look back on that trip, some of my favorite memories– like that one– were really of the times we spent waiting.
Don’t misunderstand me: I’m not promising that your time of waiting right now is going to be better than the end of the wait. (The classic, “Getting there is half the fun!” mantra from every mom and dad on every long road trip ever.) But I am saying that if you’re waiting for your circumstances to change before you can be joyful, you’re going to be waiting a long time. God has given us the opportunity to experience joy before our wait is over, because our hope and joy is found in Him, not in circumstances.
“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
1 Peter 1:8-9
The Bible doesn’t say that we will be filled with “an inexpressible and glorious joy”; it says that we are filled with it. As in, right now– before the wait is over. Don’t be waiting to be joyful sometime in the future; the joy that can be found in Christ can be found now.
Further study + reflection
Think about the difference between happiness and joy. Write down what you believe to be the definition of both. The Bible tells us that we can experience joy right now– do you believe you are joyful? Do you think others would describe you as joyful? What can you do to be joyful in the waiting?
Note: This post is part of the Two Weeks of Waiting Devotional. To return to the table of contents for the devotional, click here. To read this as a downloadable ebook, subscribe below.
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So so good!!