When God Says Wait

Right now we are driving back from a trip to Kampala that ended with no progress on the passport. We are still waiting on one document from the National Identification and Registration Administration office in Kampala. Apparently the only printer that can print this certain document is not working. It hasn’t been working for a week now. The IT guy has been busy and so we have been asked again to “be patient.” At around 4pm, we were told that he will not get to it today so we should begin the journey home from Kampala. It is usually at least a 2 hour drive. We will see how traffic is this afternoon. Not too bad right now. 

I have been praying (and asking many of you to pray) that we would get this document today so that we could apply for the passport, which we need to then receive before we can apply for a visa to travel at our Christmas break. As you can see there are many steps. We were hoping to make progress on one of those steps today since we are on a break from school. The next two weeks are full with teaching during the day and parent teacher conferences after school. If the document is printed during that time, I will need to find some way to get back to Kampala to apply for the visa. I trust that God will work out those details when the time comes. 

As we explained to our children, who were all patiently waiting with us at a restaurant for over 4 hours after many hours in the van and much waiting at other places, one of my children said, “So this whole trip was a waste of time?” While I was feeling that way myself, it made me think about how we as a family can try to use this experience as an opportunity for growth rather than feeding off of one another’s frustrations. So as we were sitting in some traffic, I asked my children to think about what truths from God’s Word we can remember to encourage each other during this time. I usually turn to Romans chapter 8 for encouragement, but I also wanted my children to have a chance to share their own thoughts from God’s Word. Most of my children weren’t ready to say anything, but one of my children reminded us of the truth of Jeremiah 29:11 which says:

“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future.” 

Some people might use this verse to say that God is going to always work things out in the way we want, but that was obviously not the case today. But I am learning to trust that God’s good plans sometimes are more about the things He is teaching me and the way He is shaping my character than about fixing the situation. So I will trust Him. Sometimes it easier and sometimes it is more difficult for me. But even when I don’t feel it, I will choose to remind myself that God is good, all the time. And all the time, God is good.