Waiting. That’s a hard one. Oh, and trusting. Trusting as in trusting someone else won’t mess up, or slow you down, or do a worse job than you. Hi, I’m a Type A personality, and I’ll take it from here, thanks.
Type A personalities (a concept originating from two cardiologists who studied increased risks of heart disease) are described as fast-paced, competitive, goal-oriented, and easily impatient if things don’t go as planned. Type A’s are self-motivated, ambitious, and prone to burnout. It brings them joy when everything is running efficiently and according to plan, leaving them just enough extra time to sign up for another “small” thing.
Whether you consider yourself a Type A personality (or not), trusting God on a practical level is harder than it seems. Not that you doubt his sovereignty or have “trust issues.” It’s just that you’ve already read three books on knowing the will of God and haven’t found that secret sauce on the balance between God’s providence and human responsibility.
Learning to slow down and trust God is one of those things best practiced through experience and not absorbed from how-to books or podcasts or YouTube videos on 2x speed. Not that you shouldn’t be reading and learning more (far from it), but head knowledge cannot replicate the process of depending on God when the future looks like a question mark.
Which takes us back to waiting and trusting.
In Matthew 6, Jesus says, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Two points are worth noting. We are called to seek God first, implying that this is the starting course of action, but not the only course. We have responsibility to pursue openings under the direction of God’s council and providence. Second, we are called to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, which begs the question, “Is my pursuit righteous?”
A lot of our life choices don’t have clear moral implications. Is Position A more righteous than Career Path B? Is this degree more excellent than taking a gap year? That’s where we recall the first part of Jesus’s teaching about the kingdom of God. Which option better helps us utilize our talents and skills? What would bring God more glory? Sometimes, simply sticking your neck out is the best way to figure out if something works (or doesn’t). It’s true that you might fail, humanly speaking. But, if you are seeking God’s direction and paying attention to how he’s working in your life, you aren’t wasting your time. God uses all opportunities, experiences, jobs, degrees, and relationships to build us into the types of people we are today.
We also need to trust his promises. I’m reminded of the biblical story of Sarai and her solution to a very big problem. God had promised that she and her husband Abram would have a son. The reality: she wasn’t as young as she used to be, and her husband was 86. But Sarai wasn’t about to let that stop her. She was a problem-solver. In Genesis 16, we read of Sarai’s solution: her servant Hagar would become Abram’s pseudo-wife and bear children on Sarai’s behalf.
And it worked. Sort of.
Domestic drama ensued as tensions ran high between the two “wives,” to the point where the pregnant servant ran away from the jealous and oppressive Sarai. Although Hagar returned, there were still issues with Sarah’s solution. At the end of the narrative, Sarai did end up mothering her own child, Isaac, just as God promised all along. Ishmael, Hagar’s child, though blessed in his own way, did not qualify as the covenant son and had to be sent away. There were repercussions for this “fast-forwarding” of God’s plan.
When things start stalling, we tend to press the skip button on the remote of our lives. We find ways to keep things “flowing,” even if flowing means moving backward. We scheme, troubleshoot, and force an outcome rather than taking a deep breath and paying attention to how God might be moving. Should we make plans? Yes. Should we pursue ideal opportunities? Absolutely. Should we overcome challenges and hurdles in our lives? Of course. Considering the future, minimizing risk, and being strategic are all valuable attributes, evenencouraged in the Bible. The issue comes when we become so wrapped up in our own solutions that we jump the gun unrighteously or become unwilling to accept the other plans God has in store.
Sure, you might say, but we don’t have a specific promise to wait on. Unlike Sarai and Abram, we aren’t promised a child, or a spouse, or a good job, or healing. It’s hard to be patient when the future is hazy, when we don’t know if that child, or spouse, or job, or healing exists at the other end of the waiting. While we aren’t promised a specific individual or position, Christians still have promises to grasp.
One of the most comforting (and terrifying) promises is found in Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good...” The comfort is that no matter what happens in life, it will be for good in the end. But the flipside is also true. Sometimes not getting that job is what was best in the end. Never finding that life partner was what drew you closer to Jesus. Wrecking that car was how you learned humility. Experiencing sickness taught you thankfulness for every new day. Our deepest desires are not guaranteed fulfillment on this earth. But that’s what trust and faith are: choosing to hold onto that assurance despite the circumstances. It’s choosing to believe that, as a Christian, your life situation is what God will work together for good.
Type A personality or not, waiting is hard. Trusting is hard. When every fiber wants to jump in and start pulling strings, remember to hold your hands open. 1) Evaluate: are you seeking God in this decision? Are you seeking a purposeful use of the abilities and resources he has given you? 2) Are you so attached to your plan that you are failing to see, or even ignoring, the opportunities God has placed in front of you today?
Disappointing situations will occur. Some waits seem like eternity on earth. Some scenarios are maddingly out of our control. And yes, even Type A’s will fail sometimes. But thank God that his master plan encompasses our own best-laid plans with his own better ones. He won’t mess up, or slow you down, or do a worse job than you. He’s got this.
