Queuing

Queuing.

Along with having a stiff upper lip, a fondness for tea and a propensity to talk about the weather at any given opportunity, us Brits are known for queuing.

Regardless of the reason, we are excellent at forming a perfectly neat line and patiently waiting our turn.  In fact, for big events - the release of the 7th Harry Potter book, the Diamond Jubilee, The Royal Wedding, for example - we will make an event of queuing itself by taking tents and picnics and setting ourselves up well in advance of the actual event.

I was lucky enough to be on The Mall on the Saturday of the Jubilee weekend.  Whilst we enjoyed the concert, part of the fun of the day was the hour or so we had beforehand, waiting for it to start.  Everyone was very friendly and chatty and there was a feeling of excitement and anticipation.  There were lots of people who had even camped out over night and lined The Mall with their patriotic tents, picnics and Pimms.  Everyone was having a brilliant time, even waiting for the main event.

We enjoyed waiting.

In the last week, I have been in several queues, mainly in different shops.  I have had to wait no more than three minutes (one as short as fifteen seconds) at any of these different checkouts but, on several occasions, the cashier has apologised for the fact that I have had to wait.

This seems to go against the very thing that the British were made to do.  Obviously no one likes queuing for an unnecessarily long time especially in a shop on a sunny day.  But do we really mind waiting that much?

My first reaction would be to say no, but when it comes to prayer and waiting for God to respond, it is rather a different matter.

I can be patient in a 'real' queue, I can chat to the people around me who are also waiting, I can even enjoy myself waiting in line.  But I never seem to apply the same principles to when I'm waiting for God.  I'm not particularly patient, I don't often talk to people in a similar situation and I certainly don't enjoy myself.

I think part of the difference is that in a real queue you can at least see it moving; no matter how slowly, there is a feeling of progress as you wait.  But when we pray and wait for God, there can sometimes feel as if there is no progress at all.  And that's when we have to stop relying on our own understanding and trust with hope that God is doing something behind the scenes.

"Wait, Israel, for God.  Wait with hope.  Hope now; hope always!"

[Psalm 131:3 MSG]

I think I would do well to make the following verse my mantra when I find myself in a spiritual 'queue':

"God, the one and only - I'll wait as long as he says.  Everything I need comes from him, so why not?"

[Psalm 62:1 MSG]

Why not indeed.