the last few minutes

I went to H-mart with a friend on Friday to just grab a nice Korean meal and catch up with each other. She had been craving a dish called "jjolmyun" for about a month now, and she was finally going to be able to satisfy this super crazy craving.

We both ordered, and my food came out first, and as all good friends do, I waited until she got her food. But...it took quite a while. And mind you, it was about 2:15ish pm when we had ordered, so we were both starving like crazy.

She made a mock sad puppy sound as we both eagerly anticipated her dish to come out (because hey, I wanted to eat my lunch too!) and laughed, saying, "I've waited a whole month to eat it, I can wait 10 more minutes!"

There's something about this notion of waiting. Humans are naturally inclined to not be good at it, so we do everything we can to avoid it. It's really not so much that we're simply in a hurry as much as that we are desperate.

Desperate?

Desperate.

Desperate for something more than what we have right now.

I mean yeah, just because you decide to use the self-checkout lane instead of waiting in a line for an actual cashier doesn't mean you're desperate to flee from FroGro because you're being suffocated by the high prices and the poor service. Or just because you get irritated while waiting in a hujungous line for the drive-thru doesn't mean you're that desperate for grease and fatty deliciousness.

But we all have a hunger. A hunger for success, a hunger for respect, a hunger for leisure, a hunger for love. The faster we get the trials over with and satiate this hunger, the better. The sooner we can hunger after something else, the better.

Yet, the funny thing about God is that it is precisely in these moments of waiting that He tries to show us His glory and His faithfulness. And even more so, in the last few minutes, which are actually the hardest minutes of the whole process. He says to us, "Hey, I know you've been working and waiting and it's been really hard for you. Why don't you come spend these last few minutes resting in me, and I will reveal to you exactly what you've been waiting for?"

He is a God who sees how impatient and weak we really are, and instead of saying, "BAHAHA, I will watch you squirm as I make the clock tick more slowly," He says, "Be with me, and I will not only make the time fly by, but I will also let you enjoy this waiting period you have with me."

He's like the friend that chats with you as you wait in line for the cashier or for your food to come out. The father that plays word games with his child as the family makes an 8-hour-long drive to Disneyworld.

So why wait alone? Whether you are Christian or not, waiting is inevitable in life. We all don't run on the same schedule, so it is impossible for waiting to not exist.

So why not wait with someone else who will lessen the burden of waiting? Why not wait with the One who has allowed you to wait in the first place? With the assurance that you will get exactly what you have been waiting for - and get this - even if it is not what you anticipated at first?

My friend and I didn't get just our respective lunches that day. We also got bubble tea, some groceries, and most importantly, a good afternoon of sisterly bonding.

Don't you also want to reach the end of your waiting journey and find that you have much more than you had originally wanted?

We're always told to wait on Him, and for sure, that is something that we must eagerly do as well, but I think it's also super blessing and encouraging to wait with Him.

(Excuse the random images :P)