I was in line at a local fast food restaurant. The lines were long but usually this place was fairly quick. My blood sugar had dropped and I needed food to bring it up. And I was hungry. There was a car in front of me taking their sweet precious time it seemed. When they finally moved forward, I took my place in front of the speaker. As I waited, I watched as 3 cars went through lane 1 and I still hadn’t heard a voice come through asking me what I wanted. I was beginning to get impatient so I went ahead and pulled forward, thinking there might be something wrong with that drive-thru lane. I sat and I sat, creeping forward one car at a time.

After about 15 minutes, I was mad. I could feel it rising up in me and now it was full blown. I pulled out of the line and went inside only to find more long lines. Now, not only did I miss my chance outside because of impatience, I would have to wait even longer. The wait inside was about 10 minutes but it felt more like 30. I tried to calm my nerves as I ordered. This guy taking my order didn’t know what was going on and had no control over it anyway. After he had taken my order, I calmly asked for a manager. As I waited for my food, I explained to the manager what had happened. I wasn’t rude or demanding. I just informed him about what had happened in case there really was something wrong. And then I turned to leave before I had a breakdown.

My impatience had caused me even more waiting and as I left the restaurant and tried to calm myself down, I realized that in my frustration, I had only made things worse for myself.

As I sit here now, I think about that incident and how much it is like my impatience with God sometimes. God is doing a work in me. I am seeking Him more and more and wanting to serve Him. I have been through so much in my life and I want to share my story with others so that God can be seen, His grace evident, and He can work through bad situations.

But in some situations, He calls me to wait. He calls me to stop thinking with my head and lean into Him. He wants to refine a few things in me or line a few things out somewhere else before I move in certain areas. He wants me to be PATIENT. In His time and in His way, He will show me how and when to move, what steps to take, what part of my story to tell, and where to go.

And I will wait to see what He is going to do!