We spend our entire lives waiting — to grow up, to finish school, for our salary, to marry our lover, for our baby to be born, for our kids to grow up, for our next vacation, for traffic lights to turn green, for the summer blockbuster and, ultimately, for death.

And something most of us do almost every day is to wait for buses to arrive. Prediction apps are able to tell us how long we would have to wait before the next bus arrives. Just 15 years ago, when none of these technologies existed, we would have to wait patiently for our buses to arrive.

And we would have no idea if it was going to be a three-minute or 30-minute wait.

In my childhood, bus shelters were not as plentiful. I remember standing in the sun, squinting my eyes to look into the distance, and waiting patiently for my bus to arrive. Despite the discomfort, I still had to do it; I would not want to miss my bus because I was not paying attention.

In the 1990s, only popular routes had double-decker, air-conditioned buses (known as the Super Bus) plying it. The route I frequented was serviced by a Super Bus; it was easy to recognise one from a distance because of its distinctive shape and colour. I would spend the entire waiting time anticipating a glimpse of one, and it would fill me with glee if that Super Bus was my Super Bus.

Despite the unpredictability of the bus arrivals, I would still wait because the bus always showed up. Even if the waiting time was longer than usual, I would still wait because I knew the bus would eventually arrive, just like it had previously done. And when it did, the bus was worth the wait.

Today, we know exactly when our buses would arrive. Some apps can even trace the real-time location of the oncoming bus! As a result, we would pop out our smartphones, books and magazines to kill the waiting time by entertaining and engaging ourselves with these wait-fillers.

In this age of multi-tasking, nobody likes to stand around, do nothing and just wait.

With all these distractions, it is no wonder we have forgotten how to wait!

Waiting upon the Lord

Maybe that is why we cannot relate to what the prophet Isaiah said: “But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, they run and don’t get tired, they walk and don’t lag behind.” Isaiah 40:31 (The Message)

Here is the paradigm shift — waiting for the Lord renews our strength because the Lord, like the buses we wait for, WILL show up. We wait for the Lord because He is certainly consistent and consistently certain. For when we are waiting, we are reminded of God’s faithfulness in our lives and in His Word.

This is why we must not give up waiting — it takes our eyes off ourselves and fixes our eyes on God; we are freed from our anxieties when we focus our attention on Him. When we wait, we ought to recall the many times that the Lord has delivered in our lives. May we dare to look far into the horizon for a glimpse of Him instead of looking down at our distractions!

So the next time you need to wait for a bus or train to arrive, an event to pass, a promise to be fulfilled, or for the Lord to show up, know that the wait in itself is part of the process. Waiting is not just passivity but an intentional and purposeful decision. And the Lord will show up in your life. No wonder we will get fresh strength, spread our wings and soar like eagles, run and not get tired, and walk and not lag behind!

Let us wait for our consistently certain God with conviction, and let us wait for our certainly consistent God with confidence!