Do you wait patiently in line at a grocery store or for that special something you've been wanting? What about God? Do you wait patiently for Him?

You've heard it before. Waiting builds character. Unfortunately, we seldom recognize the benefit of waiting when we're going through it. While experiencing an extended period of waiting, we often feel as if we have been hurled into a dark abyss with no hope for return. In case you're unfamiliar with the term, let me clarify the meaning of abyss.

An abyss is a bottomless pit, an unfathomable or immeasurable depth or void. Can you relate? That's exactly what an extended season of waiting can feel like. Whether waiting for a promotion, healing, breakthrough, money, car, employment, friends, spouse, or a home to name a few, it can seem as if we're swirling in an endless void as we wait for the answers.

Perhaps like me, you've discovered that when you finally receive the very thing you were waiting for, you have approximately fifteen minutes to enjoy it before something new pops up to wait for.

You get the job you wanted and now must wait for the probation period to end to be guaranteed your position. You finally get pregnant and then due to difficulties during the pregnancy your restricted to your bed and must wait for days, weeks even months until you can move around safely again.

It's no surprise that there are one thousand-eight hundred-forty six occurrences of the word "waiting" in the bible alone. That's a whole lot waiting if you ask me. So what does it all mean? Are we destined to live in the dismal abyss of waiting throughout our whole lives? Honestly? Yes and no.

We will always have something we're waiting on, but the waiting doesn't have to be dismal. Romans 8:23 (New Century Version) explains.

"So we are waiting for God to finish making us his own..."

We are all waiting. Not just for the job or the breakthrough, which God is more than willing to give us but we are all waiting for God to finish what He started. To complete in us what He has set out to do. And so yes, we wait for many things however, we wait with hope in God and an assurance that He will finish what He has started.