Losing Sight of Beauty

Do you ever get super excited about something? It might be a new opportunity or a relationship. But then, you find out you have to wait for it. You might be willing to wait a while, but the waiting grows longer…and longer. You’re tired of waiting. You’re tired of being patient. You begin to wonder why you were ever excited in the first place, even if the thing you’re excited about hasn’t changed.

I’ve had this happen to me countless times. Most recently, I got the opportunity to partner with a brand through my photography. I was so excited! This is what many photographers in my “line of work” (more like hobby) hope for, and essentially what I’ve been working towards for over four years.

When the company first reached out to me, I was ecstatic! I called my close friends, I barely resisted the urge to text everyone in my contacts. I was truly overjoyed.

But then…it took weeks for them to respond to me. Once they finally did, it took even longer before we could work out the details of the deal. They were kind and thoughtful, but it was still frustrating having to wait for everything to work out, not knowing if everything would eventually go through.

Then, when they shipped out the package with the merchandise for me to photograph, the package kept getting delayed. The latest it was supposed to come was 7 p.m. and it came close to 6:30 p.m.

But when I opened the front door, there were five GINORMOUS (I do mean that in the most literal sense) packages. I was so touched…and embarrassed I had been annoyed at the wait.

To be honest, during the waiting process, I struggled to find joy in the project. I no longer wanted to tell everyone and their neighbor. When my friends asked how things were going, I mumbled something about things probably not working out.

But then, it did. It worked out even better than I could’ve imagined. To say I was overwhelmed by their generosity is an understatement.

Seasons of waiting (often when they are for even bigger things than photography partnerships) can feel like the toughest times to draw close to God. We’re often impatient with Him, wondering why He isn’t “following through” with His promises. But the truth is, He is always working, even when we can’t see it. He has something much bigger in store for us if we can only wait. Often, His answers come in different shaped packages than we imagined, but they are better, more profound than anything we could ever hope for.

It’s easy to give up hoping when things aren’t happening at the speed we want them to. We lose sight of the beauty. The beauty in what we’re waiting for, the beauty in the world around us, in the little things. But most of all, the beauty that comes in a season of waiting.

God doesn’t waste the waiting, and He doesn’t want us to either. God often meets us in these uncomfortable places and teaches us everything we need for the next season of life. Often, the reason we have to wait is because we aren’t ready for what’s next. But if we allow God to work through every season, He will help us become ready for the things He has planned for us. He doesn’t promise to give us all we wish for, but rather what He desires for us.

You may wonder, “Why go through waiting periods if God isn’t planning on giving me what I want?”. Well, when we align our hearts with God’s, our deepest desire is for His will to be done. When we keep ourselves open to the unexpected opportunities God places in our path, we won’t feel quite so stuck. Instead, we will always have things to do for God’s kingdom.

Today, I hope you can revisit the part of your life you feel stuck in. I hope you can see that God is working through this season of waiting. And most of all, I pray that you can see the beauty in everything God is doing in you and through you.

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Romans 12:12

The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.

Lamentations 3:25

But as for me, I will look to the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.

Micah 7:7