Worth the Wait
“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore He exalts Himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.” - Isaiah 30:18
Because I struggle with waiting, I wanted to understand the psychology behind the frustration that accompanies waiting. “Why,” I wondered, “do we get annoyed, upset, or irritated when we have to wait?” And in doing some research, I stumbled upon an amazing book entitled, “The Psychology of Waiting Lines: 8 Factors That Make The Wait Seem Longer.”
In the book, the author, David Maister, explores the psychology of waiting lines and concludes that what makes waiting so frustrating has very little to do with the amount of time we have to wait and everything to do with what is happening while we are waiting.
The eight factors he talks about are: (1) When people are unoccupied while they are waiting, distractions cause the time to pass quicker. (2) When the process gets started, waiting seems quicker. (3) Anxiety makes waiting feel longer. (4) Uncertain waits feel longer than finite waits. (5) Unexplained waits feel longer than explained waits. (6) Unfair waits feel longer than fair waits. (7) Solo waits feel longer than group waits. But it’s the eighth reason that stood out to me.
Maister said that the final reason that causes a customer to wait longer is when the service is more valuable. You’ll wait longer to talk to your doctor than you’ll wait to talk to a telemarketer. You’ll wait in line longer to get your paycheck than you’ll wait to buy a toothbrush.
And so, when the object of the waiting is more valuable, you don’t mind waiting because you tell yourself, “It’s worth the wait.” That is exactly why it is so important that we wait on God. What God wants to give us are of great value.
Yet for some reason, we struggle to wait on the Lord. As we have already discussed this month, you must have hope that God will do what He says He will do. It just takes time. What He is going to bless you with is worth the wait!
Because I struggle with waiting, I wanted to understand the psychology behind the frustration that accompanies waiting. “Why,” I wondered, “do we get annoyed, upset, or irritated when we have to wait?” And in doing some research, I stumbled upon an amazing book entitled, “The Psychology of Waiting Lines: 8 Factors That Make The Wait Seem Longer.”
In the book, the author, David Maister, explores the psychology of waiting lines and concludes that what makes waiting so frustrating has very little to do with the amount of time we have to wait and everything to do with what is happening while we are waiting.
The eight factors he talks about are: (1) When people are unoccupied while they are waiting, distractions cause the time to pass quicker. (2) When the process gets started, waiting seems quicker. (3) Anxiety makes waiting feel longer. (4) Uncertain waits feel longer than finite waits. (5) Unexplained waits feel longer than explained waits. (6) Unfair waits feel longer than fair waits. (7) Solo waits feel longer than group waits. But it’s the eighth reason that stood out to me.
Maister said that the final reason that causes a customer to wait longer is when the service is more valuable. You’ll wait longer to talk to your doctor than you’ll wait to talk to a telemarketer. You’ll wait in line longer to get your paycheck than you’ll wait to buy a toothbrush.
And so, when the object of the waiting is more valuable, you don’t mind waiting because you tell yourself, “It’s worth the wait.” That is exactly why it is so important that we wait on God. What God wants to give us are of great value.
Yet for some reason, we struggle to wait on the Lord. As we have already discussed this month, you must have hope that God will do what He says He will do. It just takes time. What He is going to bless you with is worth the wait!
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1 Comment
I struggle with waiting and this message "really" blessed me and I have some tools for the tasks.
Thank you and God Bless you!