I want to discuss a 4-letter word with you today, one that has much power but also fills us with apprehension. Do you have a guess? Wrong! It’s not “love” – I know that’s what all of you guessed. I can’t say I’m in the mood to get deep into the topic of love to be honest. No, the guest of honor today happens to be the word…
WAIT
(I realize now that you probably guessed what the word was from the title of this article…)
See what I mean? Much power but also much apprehension. All of us have memories of being young and having our immediate dreams shattered by our parents or teachers firmly inserting this word. All of us remember the conflict that has often ensued when we debate
whether we should take this word’s advice or act hastily - and often rashly - towards our desires. I for one can list many times in which I should have waited but didn’t. Failure to do so resulted in things such as a stomachache, headache, bruise, hurt feelings, and almost always regret. Thus, we see the obvious battle between the blessings of waiting and the difficulty of doing so. It is this battle which I wish to discuss today.
A key principle when it comes to waiting is that it differs from the word “stopping”. The word “stop” is also a 4-letter word with power and apprehension, but in a different way. You see, to stop means to halt your progress completely. While stopped, you really don’t do anything productive. The mentality is that, since you’re not moving, you’d might as well stop trying. Standing in opposition to this is “waiting”, which, when done correctly, implies that you are consistently bettering yourself even while visible progress towards a goal is halted. Actively waiting means you consistently do the small, character-improving things while you anxiously await your path to continue. Actively waiting means you have hope, while stopping means you have none.
It’s quite easy as a missionary to actively wait. Every day you do productive things that not only lead to goals but also naturally lead to character development. I found that I almost always felt hopeful and productive as a missionary, even on days when we didn’t find visible success, simply because we never, ever stopped. Now, upon coming home, I find much more temptation to stop, relax, and let the character development stop. That has caused me much sadness at times and has led me to write this article.
I learned a few valuable lessons this week that I wish to share with you. The first comes from a certain new movie, one that I believe to be stunning, beautiful, and worthy to be called one of the best movies of its kind. Really, I’m totally honest in admitting how great I thought Frozen 2 to be! If you haven’t seen it, you must. The music was inspiring, the storyline engaging, and the messages insightful.
The theme of the movie struck me greatly. The head troll – I believe his name is Pabbie – shows up to offer some trademark advice to Anna and Elsa. He looks into the future, deems it uncertain, and then makes this golden remark:
“When the future is uncertain, all you can do is do the next right thing”
What a brilliant saying! Never does Disney fail to produce divinely inspired wisdom worthy of a gospel insight. What do we do when we don’t know what to do? What do we do when we are asked, forced or choose to wait? We simply do the next right thing! By so doing, we secure blessings such as character development, joy, and further guidance. Waiting isn’t so hard when you stop focusing on the fact that you’re waiting and start doing right thing after right thing. Pretty soon we will find what we were waiting for – or something far better than we could have imagined.
This idea of doing the next right thing reminds me of yet another lesson I learned this week. I met up with an old friend from high school – the same one I mentioned in my article two weeks ago about trains. For simplicity sake, I’ll give him the fake name “Samuel”. Samuel and I had lunch together and talked for a couple of hours about a myriad of things. At one point in the conversation, after both of us had opened up about our thoughts and difficulties, Samuel suddenly became very wise and taught a powerful principle. He said something like this:
“When we hear about other people’s problems, suddenly ours become easier to bear. We learn that what we are going through is not as hard as what someone else is going through. No matter how hard our life is, it can always be put into perspective. Nothing helps us go through our problems like helping someone through theirs”
I thought this incredibly wise, something like what a missionary speaking with divine help would say. I was humbled once again as I realized that yes, my mission had matured me and taught me, but his life experiences, much different to mine, had done the same to him. And what he said is true. While we stand actively waiting for our own goals or promises or dreams to come true, why not reach around and help others who have stopped or been waiting for a long time? In so doing, as Samuel said, we will find that our ability to actively wait will grow significantly.
All of us wait for something.
I find myself waiting for a housing contract down at BYU – and crunch time is coming. I find myself waiting (though not in any rush) for a relationship and eventual family. I find myself waiting for the fulfillment of promises I have received from God for having served him diligently throughout my life.
What else are we waiting for?
We may receive promises and assurances that things will be okay but find ourselves waiting desperately for them to be realized.
We may wait and pray and plead for those we love to be healed or to make better choices but find that things only get worse.
We may be waiting to find love but struggle to recover after a broken relationship.
We may await blessings we know we have earned and deserve but find only trial after trial after trial.
We may desire faith and actively seek it but are blocked by continuous clouds of doubt and disbelief.
We may yearn for deliverance, either for ourselves or others, but only find that while waiting, burdens continue to build upon us.
We may eagerly anticipate a glorious reunion with family and eternal rest in Heaven but are, for now, expected to endure a difficult and often dark world – one in which we have to wait for almost everything
worthwhile.
Whatever we are waiting for, let us be firm. Let us actively wait and never stop improving ourselves. Let us do the next right thing, and then the next, and then the next, keeping an eye out for immediate blessings rather than focusing on those that have not yet come. And let us help others along the way, for actively waiting is never something that should be done in isolation.
I close now on a spiritual note with words from a beloved church leader of mine:
“God’s promises are not always fulfilled as quickly as or in the way we might hope; they come according to His timing and in His ways...
Looking back, I know for sure that the promises of the Lord, if perhaps not always swift, are always certain…
Patience means to abide in faith, knowing that sometimes it is in the waiting rather than in the receiving that we grow the most.”
-Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf
I know and promise that waiting, though difficult, is possible. I have been waiting for a long time for certain blessings and promises to be fulfilled, and I know you have to. If anything, we all wait for a better life after this one, one with all of our family and with our God. Let us rely on a Savior, Jesus Christ, someone who made all of our waiting not only possible, but worth it.
Love you heaps!
Adam Simpson
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