Esperar is a Spanish word meaning to expect. It is also translated as to hope and to wait.
To hope and to wait.
I’ve talked about hope and surrender and rest. Over a month later, I’m still struggling with all that. I told some friends today, “Sometimes I lay [my burdens] down then pick them back up; sometimes I lay them down and pick up other ones; some I still need to lay down.” I’m tired, in several ways. I look at those posts I wrote and try to believe, to let go, to rest and wait.
Waiting.
I don’t think anyone likes to wait. Some of us accept it better than others, but we don’t necessarily enjoy it.
But hoping and waiting go together.
For example:
A girl hopes she can have a sleepover with her friend. She asks her parents, gives reasons why she could/should go, promises to behave and not stay up too late. . . and then waits. She has to wait for an answer. She might not wait patiently, might continue to plead and hang around and make puppy-dog eyes.
But she hopes and waits.
We hope. We wait. We might not–most often don’t–wait patiently; we might continue to plead and give reasons and whine and hang around. We demand an answer, though perhaps we put the demand in the form of a question or a reminder.
It’s hard to wait. To wait patiently. To wait trustingly. To wait hopefully.
There are situations I want to be resolved now. There are prayers I want to be answered now. There are people I want to be changed, relationships I want to be fixed, questions I want a reply to, hearts I want to be healed. . . now.
But God moves in His own timing. He’s got His schedule worked out. And He asks me to wait, to trust, to keep holding on to hope and surrendering and coming to Him for rest. He tells me:
… though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come …
Habakkuk 2:3 (KJV)
Wait for it. It will come. It might be a while; you might be waiting for what seems forever–but it will come. Situations will be resolved (though maybe not the way you want). Prayers and questions will be answered (though maybe not the way you want). Things will happen (though maybe not the way or in the timing you want).
Necesitas esperar. You need to wait. To hope.
He still is.
