{"id":307,"date":"2006-07-25T22:39:23","date_gmt":"2006-07-26T03:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/192.185.166.32\/~davidfoster\/?p=307"},"modified":"2009-10-08T22:40:12","modified_gmt":"2009-10-09T03:40:12","slug":"10-ways-to-wait","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/10-ways-to-wait\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Ways to Wait"},"content":{"rendered":"

The only absolute guarantee you have every single day of your life is that you\u2019re going to be waiting: Waiting at red lights, waiting in line, for the theatre, to eat, waiting in line for the bathroom, or at the bank. Waiting is an inescapable part of our life, but obviously in the economy of God, a very important part of life. So let me give you 10 ways to wait wisely.
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\n1. Wait to worry.<\/strong> The Bible is clear that we shouldn\u2019t worry about the things we can\u2019t control. So wait to worry simply means it\u2019s senseless to worry about the things you can\u2019t control and dumb to fail to control the things you can.
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\n2. Resist the \u201cflee or fight\u201d impulse.<\/strong> Waiting is frustrating so the impulse for some is to flee, just simply run away from the thing that\u2019s causing you frustration. Others have a fight impulse. It\u2019s tempting to bully your way ahead. Oftentimes the desired result can only be achieved with time. So it\u2019s neither flee nor fight. Resist the impulse to push. Resist the urge to have it over with. Be careful with words like, \u201cI can\u2019t take this anymore,\u201d \u201cYou\u2019re killing me,\u201d \u201cI\u2019m going to die if this doesn\u2019t change,\u201d none of which is probably true.<\/p>\n

3. Surrender to the devastating love of God.<\/strong> Every single day, get up and recognize you\u2019re loved. Surrender to that devastating love, that love beyond all reason, beyond all hope, beyond all measure; the love that\u2019s stronger than any force or foe you\u2019ll ever face, the love that says that no one can ever take from you or keep from you what God\u2019s want for you.<\/p>\n

4. Submit to divine providence.<\/strong> Though He may be silent, God is not still. Submit your will every day to the devastating providence of God. It may not make sense to you now but it will in the long run, because God has a plan and His plans always work out.<\/p>\n

5. Plan ahead.<\/strong> Planning ahead in these downtimes simply means that I\u2019ll buy a composition notebook and start journaling everyday. It may not be filled with the things you wish you were doing. It may be filled with things that you ought to be doing – like exercising, like reading and engaging your mind. It doesn\u2019t matter whether your plans are working or not. There\u2019s always a week to plan, so do it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

6. Expand your circle. <\/strong>During downtimes one of the greatest things you can do is go looking for other friendships because during these times of waiting, you have more time to engage in the things that you won\u2019t have time for when things start back up again. How many times do we say to people, \u201cWe need to get together.\u201d There\u2019s just not enough time. While you\u2019re waiting, that\u2019s just exactly what you should be filling a lot of the downtime with. Enlist advisors, associates, make alliances.
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\n7. Backlog your product. <\/strong>I\u2019m a writer and a speaker, an agent of change. My products are the things that I write or create. I don\u2019t make widgets, don\u2019t dig ditches, and I don\u2019t pave roads. I don\u2019t build tall buildings. It\u2019s easy for me sometimes to excuse not making my product because there\u2019s no immediate demand for it. You need to be creating your product now, backlogging it for when you need it. Thoughts, perceptions, and great ideas are lost if not captured now!<\/p>\n

8. Houseclean and get lean.<\/strong> I do not mean by this downsize. I hate the word downsize because it\u2019s just another excuse for quitting, for giving up, protecting the lazy man\u2019s way. When we downsize, we downsize our expectations, our hope and anticipation. And just because you\u2019re in a period of waiting doesn\u2019t mean that your life diminishes or becomes smaller. It just means you\u2019re going through a period that is necessary for the next leg of the race. Housecleaning simply means get rid of the things that you don\u2019t need. If there\u2019s unfinished business with you or your family relationships, get it taken care of now while you can. If you\u2019re not going to wear it or use it within the next six months, you probably don\u2019t need it.<\/p>\n

9. Get up and get moving. <\/strong>During a waiting period, depression can set in. The more inactive you are, the more down you\u2019ll feel. You talk to yourself and say, \u201cHey, why should I get up early? Why should I care? Why should I get dressed?\u201d But let\u2019s be honest. There are only so many TV reruns that you can endure. While you may be in a waiting period, you\u2019re still employed. You\u2019re employed by your Creator. You\u2019re working for an audience of one. So, get up and get moving. You\u2019ll be amazed at what happens when you put yourself into the mainstream of the flow of life. Not even God can help you when you\u2019re glued to the couch or the bed.<\/p>\n

10. Live life leaning forward.<\/strong> By this I mean live each and every day with great anticipation. This could be the day of the great breakthrough, or discovery you\u2019re looking for. Do not allow yourself to downsize your dreams or give up on your great hopes and expectations. Live leaning forward every single day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The only absolute guarantee you have every single day of your life is that you\u2019re going to be waiting: Waiting at red lights, waiting in line, for the theatre, to eat, waiting in line for the bathroom, or at the bank. Waiting is an inescapable part of our life, but obviously in the economy of … Continue reading “10 Ways to Wait”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"series":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}