We live in a world where waiting is the enemy. We get infuriated when the person ahead of us is going 68 in a 70 and there's no way for us to get past them. We get the Starbucks app so that we can order ahead and not have to wait in that TERRIBLE line. It almost seems like it's against human nature to wait patiently.

If we can't wait patiently for relatively "simple" ordeals of life, how do we wait patiently when it's more critical – when it's painful?

For example, waiting on results from the doctor is perhaps one of the most anxiety-ridden experiences one could go through. Whether it's you personally or a loved one, it takes an enormous toll on a person. It has the potential to consume everything in its path. This experience robs joy left and right.

Maybe you're waiting for a letter of acceptance to a graduate school or medical school. The constant doubts run through your mind. What will you do if no one accepts you? This thought presses into every aspect of your day until you grow so weary that everything seems to be a burden leading to a full blown destruction.

In any scenario, anxiety attacks you without mercy. It seems as if you'll never find rest because anxiety-ridden thoughts don't have an off switch. Anxiety is a nonstop energy source for self-destruction.

When you're waiting to see what God will do in your life, it's easy to only look forward. However, you must consider what God has already done in your life. When you look at what God has done, it gives you hope for what He can do. Even when we have to wait, God will come through.

To all the skeptics out there, no, this is not just wishful thinking, this is not a refusal of a current reality. This is setting your gaze on the Lord and trusting that our all-powerful God has the ability to lift you up at any moment.

Walking through woods with zero uncut paths is problematic, but it's especially difficult for the first person to walk through while leading others. The people behind the leader do not have to deal with breaking down the branches, with getting cut by various thorns, or by treading down the floor of the forest. However, they do have to worry about following closely behind as the branches that the leader is holding back could snap back at any given moment. The followers must dwell in the shadow of the leader.

"Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty." (Psalm 91:1)

In order to find our rest in the weary act of waiting, we must follow closely to our Lord, for when we dwell in the shelter of the Lord, He does the work.