I don’t like to wait. I want what I want when I want it
For example, I knitted a sweater for my husband, He found the pattern and the yarn. I was so excited he wanted me to knit something for him.
But the stockinette stitch was never-ending. I’d knit and knit and knit and knit.; certain I had completed at least 4 or 5 inches of work, but no, only 1 and 1/2 inch when I measured it.
Anticipation: expectation, hope, realization in advance, foretaste.
Yes, I anticipated and hoped and could definitely realize in advance what it would look like when finished.
Several years ago we had sold our house. However, we had not yet found one to move to. As the day of closing drew closer I grew more and more concerned of where we would be living. Then at the last possible moment the perfect house opened up, timing worked out, and we made the transition right on time.
Several women near me are expecting and each will be delivering healthy baby boys within just a few weeks of each other. They have the nursery ready, diapers lined up and bottles on the counter, but they must wait for the right time for the baby to be delivered, no matter how excited and ready they are. They must wait, anticipate and continue on until the right moment.
I was reminded of this while weeding the garden last week. There, growing stronger and taller every day, was my favorite lily plant. There were buds everywhere, but they had not yet opened. Everyday I looked out to see more buds, no blooms.
Like the move and like babies and like the sweater; each has time needed to bring it to completion. My lily needs it time and nothing I do is going to make it bloom any sooner.
That is when this verse from Habakkuk came to mind, Habakkuk 2:3 says:
But these things won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.
I continue to wait: I wait for the many stockinette stitches on a sweater to be complete, I wait for doctors, I wait for grandchildren to visit, I wait for my turn in the grocery line, I wait for Jesus Christ to return. To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1
Everything will take place, at the proper time. Christ will return. I don’t know when, but it will take place at the right time, it will not be delayed.
The wait for the sweater was worth it.
and on my lily the blooms are starting to open:
What are you waiting for? Wait patiently, for it will not delayed.
Perhaps you should sit back, relax, and knit or crochet for a bit.
I am learning to play the fiddle as a senior adult. It can be a frustrating enterprise. I practice and practice, waiting for music, and can play nothing except scales or exercises. The music just won’t come. However, after 4 or 5 years, it suddenly appears! In its own time, not mine. Knitting lace is the same way. For row after row, all it looks like is a great tangle, a misshapen spiderweb. If I persist and keep knitting, the tangle suddenly becomes a beautiful pattern.
God does the same for me. I restlessly seek to become who it is I think I want to be. I fight and struggle. I race and do not go faster than a snail. I even give up. I get nowhere. Then, one day, at exactly the perfect time, I become someone far better than that I had envisioned. In God’s time, not mine. Finally, I am getting the picture and am standing still to wait. Oh, and doing some knitting in the meantime!