Magis Catholic

Modern life in the city finds no acceptable excuse for making people wait. Take for example, in food service restaurants, the food is being served on the counter even before the order was completed. For those who don’t want to go out of the house, food delivery is the best option, with the food being delivered in less than thirty minutes. If it takes any more than that, then the meal is free – or worse – the customer cancels and the delivery guy ends up paying for it. 

In this capitalist society, time equals money. The implication of this is that we like to rush everything: All tasks are tagged urgent and the firefighting goes on even after we leave the office. Punctuality is seen as a sign of commitment to the job, and the number of hours that you clock in is assumed as the amount and level of effort that you are willing to invest in your work. You have to put in the hours, they say. 

And so as we try to navigate our personal responsibilities and work agendas, we try our best to come up with some semblance of balance. We hope that at the end of the day, we were able to keep all the balls up in the air like the great jugglers we think we are. But sooner or later into that process, we come to the conclusion that waiting for something – regardless of what it is – necessitates that the object of our waiting should be (1) important enough, and (2) as essential to our lives such that it is worth the price of waiting. We accept that there is a high cost to waiting, and we think of it in terms of lost time, money, and opportunity. 

In one of the reflections during Mass, the priest said that there are only three ways in which God answers our prayers: 

• It is either a Yes, which is a cause for celebration because God granted our desire;
• a No, which often looks like a closed door, a redirection to something better or something different than what we originally wanted; 
• or Wait, which causes much confusion among those who receive it. We often ask: If God wants me to be happy and wants to give me good things, why is He not giving me what I want NOW? 

Noah’s waiting began when he built the ark

In our reflection, let’s take a classic case study from the Bible: that old courageous patriarch who goes by the name Noah. At this point, I highly suggest that you stop to read the full account in Genesis Chapter 6 – 9 to get more context. There is much meaning that we can unpack from these chapters, but for the purpose of our reflection on the value of waiting, I have created a quick outline below. 

The story always begins with a person chosen by God from the world.
The Bible says, 

“But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord…Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God…Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.”
– Genesis 6:8-12

God gives this person an overview of His plan, as well as a clear yet daunting task. 

So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. – Genesis 6: 12-14

When Noah built the Ark, it was not raining yet. On the surface, it seemed like nothing was happening. But Noah followed God. 

Noah did everything just as God commanded him. – Genesis 6:22

In Genesis 8:6-14, Noah waited for days and months as the rain poured and the floods came. He sent a raven and a dove out to look for fertile ground, but both times they came back. There is nothing left to do but to wait.  

He sent the dove out again, and it came back with a fresh olive leaf in its beak. Noah looked out and waited a little bit more. But he sent the dove out again, and it didn’t come back. By the time that the waters have fully receded from the earth, Noah was already 601 years old. 

The story ends with God’s promise and its sign. 

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind.

Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” – Genesis 9:8-17

Why do we need to wait on God?

From the story of Noah, we learn the four elements that make up the process of waiting: 

1. A person chosen by God
2. To whom God reveals His plan 
3. And to whom God assigns a big task
4. That comes with a promise from God and its eventual fulfilment

Sometimes, God makes us wait because He has chosen us to be critical players in His plan. He asks that we follow Him because He will show us the way, but only when we start to walk in the path with Him: Only if we choose to trust Him – and despite all opposition – build the ark. 

In this light, the act of waiting means trusting the process – listening to His will, following His directions, and leaving the outcome to God. Waiting is not passive because it requires our full engagement and participation in His plan. God will not bog us down with details, but He will give us enough to get us going: He only gave Noah the overall direction and the relevant instructions as to how to build the ark that will carry God’s chosen ones. The other details, He only revealed to Noah as these happened. 

It means placing our hope in God’s plan, believing He got us covered regardless of what happens in our lives. 

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 
– Romans 8:28 

This is not to say that waiting will be easy and pain-free. Nothing in our life is absolutely certain. Change is a constant in our lives and often requires much courage. But whatever God asks of us, He also gives us the grace and the strength to do. 

In St. Paul’s Letter To Timothy, he calls on the people of God: 

Beloved: Bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God. – 2 Timothy 1:8

Waiting for God means trusting and surrendering to God, knowing that He is faithful in His promises. All the great stories of the Bible exhibit God’s faithfulness. He delivers. Our waiting will not be in vain. Waiting is a Gospel value because it means allowing the Lord to work wonders in your life. Just look at the stories of Abraham and Mary. Our waiting in the Lord ends only in one way: It leads to the fulfilment of His promises. It will be a joy that never ends. A banquet. A feast with the Lord. 

“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