Last night my boyfriend and I went to a neat little Italian pizza house for dinner. We'd never been there before, but we had heard a lot of good things about it and decided to try it. We got there, and as we entered the rustic old building, we were puzzled by the confusing and chaotic order of business taking place inside. There were people making pizzas behind a counter right inside the door, the place was packed with people (who all seemed to be waiting in some sort of unorganized line), and we could see a room of tables and booths in the back of the building. It didn't make sense.
Noah and I looked at each other and just kind of laughed.
"What are we supposed to do?" we asked each other.
Thankfully we saw some acquaintances waiting nearby, so we asked them and got the rundown of how the place worked. We put in our name, and began to wait. After twenty or so minutes of waiting, we got seated at a booth near the back of the restaurant. We took a little time deciding what we were hungry for; the menu informed us that their pizzas were made fresh, and because of that, "they take extra time to make, but they are definitely worth the wait." We were in no hurry and decided on pizza, since that's what the restaurant was known for. We didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into.
We waited a while for our waitress to come back and take our order, and then we sat back and began waiting for our dinner. The time continued to pass, and we talked and laughed and enjoyed ourselves. One of my favorite things about my time with Noah is just being ourselves, talking, laughing, and being silly together. We definitely had plenty of time to talk and laugh. After waiting for probably fifteen minutes, our waitress brought us some bread. We ate it and continued talking and patiently waiting. After another twenty minutes or so our waitress brought our plates, and we started getting even more eager to delve in to this pizza we'd been long awaiting. If you haven't caught on yet, we spent quite a bit of our time last night simply waiting.
We joked about the possibility of them bringing out the plates halfway through the pizza making process to make people think their pizza was almost ready. I think that might have actually been the case (haha). We kept waiting, and began to realize just how hungry we were. We started getting a little restless and slightly impatient, and Noah apologized, saying he didn't realize how long it was going to be when he suggested the restaurant. I assured him it was no big deal, and that I was enjoying our time together talking and laughing.
"At least this is a memory," I told him, and we laughed.
Meanwhile, another couple we know came in, sat down, ordered something other than pizza, got their meals, ate it, and left... And we still hadn't gotten our food.
We kept eyeing the front of the restaurant where the pizza was made, hoping ours would soon be brought around the corner. Finally, after at least an hour of waiting patiently, telling stories, laughing hysterically, playing twenty questions, singing, and talking about food, our pizza came. We looked upon the sizzling, cheesy, sausage and pepperoni pizza that sat before our watering mouths and exchanged a happy glance. Needless to say, we were excited for this food.
After our first bites, we just looked at each other and grinned. It was delicious.
Noah chuckled and shook his head. "I think this pizza definitely was worth the wait."
I know it's a silly story, but it taught me a truth about patience. Personally, I don't like to wait. I would rather have what I want the moment I want it. But most of the time, that's not what's best for me. And in the end, I'd rather have what's best for me, no matter how frustrating or inconvenient the wait it.
Going with the pizza analogy, if, after thirty minutes of waiting, we had pulled our waitress aside and demanded our pizza right then and there, it would have been gross--half baked, cold, the cheese wouldn't have been perfectly melted, and the crust wouldn't have been baked just right. We would have been disappointed and left hungry and wanting more.
In life, sometimes I find myself wishing I didn't have to wait for the future or answers or for God to show me what's next. Sometimes I get ahead of Him and wish I could rush forward, quite blindly, and have everything I want. I don't want to wait, I want the future to come now, and I get jealous of others who have what I want or are where I want to be. But demanding to have things my way without being patient would be like getting a half-baked pizza and expecting it to be the best I've ever had. No half-baked pizza could ever come close to the deliciousness of a fresh, fully prepared, complete, sizzling hot pizza. Likewise, nothing I think I can do or figure out or rush ahead and do in my own way, in my own strength, without being patient and waiting on God and His perfect timing, could ever compare with all the wonderful rewards of waiting on Him. And that's enough for me to want to be patient, to wait for the best, to endure the long wait for the best pizza I could ever imagine.
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| It was worth the wait with this guy :) |
"Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the LORD!" Psalm 27:14
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9
"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28
~MM
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