When Phil and I had been married about a year, he was the Director of Student Life at Palm Beach Atlantic University. Part of his job was to oversee the student body’s formal banquets.

So, twice a year I had to squeeze some money from our tight budget to buy a formal dress—and, for the most recent event, I’d found a beautiful black dress at a bargain price.

The morning of the banquet, I got everything together. Shoes, earrings, hose … yikes! I only had white hose, but I needed black hose!

I called Phil at work to let him know about our latest family emergency. He was busy moving tables, dealing with caterers, and coordinating the student decorators. So, I realized that I’d have to wait.

(It might be a good time to share with any new 4:13ers reading this that I’m blind—which is why I couldn’t jump in the car and go buy black hose myself.)

Now, it probably doesn’t seem like a big deal at this point. After all, it was still morning. But on hectic days for Phil like this one, I knew I might not get my black hose in time for the six o’clock dinner, and I was already anxious.

By 5:45 p.m., I was fully dressed. My makeup was meticulously applied and my hair was done. I was a picture of well-groomed perfection—from the knees up, that is! I still had no black hose. All my waiting had been to no avail, and now I was really worried.

Well, between moving tables and flower arrangements, Phil had evidently communicated my crisis to my friend, Darlene. At 5:56 p.m. she burst through my door.

“Black hose!” she proudly announced.

I pulled the hose from the package. Within seconds, I had them on my grateful legs and I was out the door for the banquet.

Whether it’s waiting for something as small and insignificant as black hose or something bigger, harder, or more painful, waiting is never fun, is it? But we all have to wait at times.

Dove Award-winning Christian music artist and worship leader, Meredith Andrews, knows a lot about waiting.

Today on the 4:13 Podcast, she shares candidly about what it means to wait well when God gives you a yellow light. This might be when you are in the hard middle of your marriage, waiting for it to get better. Or, when you’re in a holding pattern in your ministry or career.

So, when you’re in a season of waiting, what kind of waiter are you?

3 Ways You May Be Waiting

• You worry while you wait. The worried waiter wrings her hands and paces the floor. She’s so busy calling her friends to bemoan her circumstances that she forgets to take them to God in prayer.
• You wish while you wait. The wishful waiter never lives in the present moment because her energy is tied to “what if,” not to “what is.” She spends most of her time speculating on what it will be like when the wait is over, and until then she just aimlessly tries to get through each day.
• You are wise while you wait. The wise waiter is focused on God’s face, not on His hand. She doesn’t look to what He will do for her, how He will take care of her situation, or when He will end her wait. Instead, she is waiting only on God, and she is present, peaceful, and productive.

In my conversation with Meredith, I learned that the girl is a wise waiter! But, she wasn’t always and her story will really inspire you.

Meredith Andrews leading worship at a recent Fresh Grounded Faith women’s event.

If you’ve ever felt like God has pressed pause and made you wait, this episode is for you. And, in case you listen while you’re on a walk or up to your elbows in a sink of dishes and wish you could take some notes, below are some more of the highlights of the episode … what to do while you wait.

4 Ways You Can Wait Well

So, what do you do while you wait? How do you make the meantime meaningful? Here are three practical things Meredith did while she waited:

1. Fell before the Lord in surrender and asked Him for help.

2. Reached out to friends for encouragement and prayer.

3. Did what she could which included counseling.

And, here is one more that KC and I have also found helpful:

4. Delight in the Lord. You can find great meaning during the waiting times of your life by delighting in God. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Sometimes we look at Psalm 37:4 as a blank check. We think that if we delight in God, He will give us what we want. And, if we want the wait to end—tah-dah—wait ends! But what the verse is saying is that when you delight in God, He places in you the desires He wants you to have—and, that certainly will make your wait far more meaningful.

So, if you feel like God pressed pause, wait well my fellow 4:13er. This time has purpose—and you can wait well through Christ who gives you strength.

Related Resources

Books and Bible Studies by Jennifer Rothschild

• Lessons I Learned in the Dark: Steps to Walking by Faith, Not By Sight
• Walking By Faith Bible Study

More from Meredith Andrews

• Deeper CD
• Meredith’s website
• Listen to Wedding Day EP from Meredith’s husband, Jacob Sooter, on Spotify or Apple

*** You can hear from amazing people like Meredith at a Fresh Grounded Faith event near you! Find an FGF in your area here.***

Links Mentioned in This Episode

• If you would like to reach out to a counselor, you can contact the American Association of Christian Counselors here.

Stay Connected

• Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe to the 4:13 Podcast here.
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What kind of waiter do you tend to be? What’s one way you will choose to be a wise waiter this week?