Esperar

It is kind of funny how “to hope”, “to expect”, and “to wait” are the same verb in Spanish:esperar.  Hm. Funny. Funny because when you think about it, don’t all three have the same significance? I mean once we hope for something we expect it is going to happen then we wait for it. And we wait…and wait. And wait until that “esperanza” becomes a reality. I really wish we had this singular verb for all three words in English because sometimes I forget the “waiting” part of hoping for and expecting something. I don’t know about you but I need things to happen instantaneously. I always fail to remember, however, that God does not operate on our time. A thousand years can be one second to Him or one second, thousand years. I like to think of it as Him being in a different time zone than us. Yes its midnight in New York yet its only 9pm in LA. But…
There must be a reason why we wait. Why do we not receive what it is we hope for instantaneously, exactly when we want it? When we feel like we need it. I have pondered over this question for quite some time. Why do we have to wait? For months, years. What is it that God wants us to discover during this waiting period? I think it is to prepare ourselves for what it is that we hope for. I offer an example:
Today Pablo has a terrible pain in his right knee and he has a desire, or rather he HOPES that the doctor will perform surgery to alleviate the inflammation in his knee tomorrow. So what does poor Pablito do? He walks from the front door of the hospital directly to the operating room. Apparently, Pablito is not too bright today. Because if he was he would know that before heading into surgery, there are necessary papers to fill out, payments to be made in the waiting room, as well as hospital robes and don’t forget about the anesthesia to be administered in the prepping room. So you see, Pablo can’t just jump from requesting his “expectation” his “hopes” to the doctor then directly receive them without first spending time in the waiting and prepping rooms.
So where does the analogy come in you ask? Very good question. I like you. Sometimes, well in actuality a lot of the time, waiting is necessary before actually receiving what it is one hopes for. Yes sometimes, it can feel like forever, they could keep poor Pablo in that waiting room for hours. But when you occupy yourself by focusing on other things, like reading an old magazine, (or in the case of real life, just to just enjoy yourself) the wait can seem a lot shorter. In addition, you may actually learn something from this distraction that could possibly prepare you for when you actually receive what has been promised. Waiting is never fruitless. For instance, Pablo could’ve read in that germy magazine that knee surgery is performed at its best when the patient is totally relaxed prior to administering anesthesia. Upon discovering this, Pablo may very well stop buy the hospital’s liquor store and buy as many items as he can to help him feel more…uh…”relaxed.”
And don’t even bother about complaining. Hey I worked in the restaurant business for quite some time and when people repeatedly come up to the host stand and complain about the wait, you already know what happens. Somehow their names “accidentally” get moved to the bottom of the list and may end up with something foamy inside their drink (ok not really but just work with me here). The point is that I’m pretty sure God doesn’t like it either when we complain about the wait because ultimately HE is the one who sees the list and knows that you are not even that far down. He just wants to be and sure you have the best seat in the house.
So I wish you peace, faith, and spiritual discovery as you “esperas” patiently. I know the Lord knows what you hope for and when you receive it, it will be better than you could have ever imagined. Just hope for it, expect it, and wait for it.