Waiting vs Lingering

I am currently reading a book that I can only read in small doses as it’s so full of revelation, I spend as much time sitting and pondering as I do reading the words! I think it’s gonna take a wee while to get through it, but that’s okay, I have 3 other books on the go!

One of the things that hit me this morning as I read, was the Author talking about “Lingering with Jesus.”
As I read those words, I began to wonder “Am I lingering with Jesus or waiting with Jesus?”

Now to some, that may seem like the same thing, but for me, they have different meanings and different connotations.

If I am waiting, I am always looking at what’s ahead. I am wondering what I am waiting for. I am biding time until the waiting is over. I can become impatient and unsettled as I wait. Waiting is not a place to stay but a stop along the way, a glitch in time that just needs to pass as soon as it can.

But if I’m lingering, I’m content. I’m happy with where I’m at, and I’m happy to be in that place. When you linger, there is no rush for what is next.

As much as I would love to say I have been lingering with Jesus lately, the honest truth is I have been waiting! I have been playing a waiting game and wishing time away so I could get to what I am waiting for. And what is it I am waiting for? Well, that’s a really great question and one I don’t have an answer for yet!

So I am changing my mindset.
In the natural, things will not really look any different. I will carry on spending time with Jesus, delving into His word and listening to His voice. But in the spiritual, things look and feel so different.
I am lingering. And I am happy to linger as long as He wants me to because He loves lingering with me. I will lose my impatience and enjoy this season of time with Him. I will lose the business and the rush to move on.
I will be happy and content at this moment, for as long as this moment may last.

I will look at it as a gift, not a punishment. I am not being sidelined, in fact, it is the exact opposite. I will embrace the slow and linger for as long as God wants me to. What a privilege and an honor to know that He wants to linger with me. He’s not in a rush and so why should I be?

I will enjoy the beauty that comes with a mind shift.
I will enjoy the peace that comes with His revelation.
I will stop rushing and wishing this season away.
And I will linger a little longer in the presence of the One who knows me and loves me.