I remember when I was in college, I endured the waiting lines for almost everything: entering the school gates, paying for school fees, going to the library, transacting with the Office of Student Affairs, even lining up for drinking fountains! 

But my friends from a known State University brag that their waiting lines are worse. Every semester when they need to enroll for their subjects, they have to endure hours of waiting. It went on even until the end of their course. "Pila ulit, pila," they say. 

But that was before the pandemic. 

Now we have a different kind of waiting to endure. We wait for our downloads to finish. We wait for our internet speed to stabilize. We wait for this pandemic to end.

As much as possible, we don't want to wait. We want things instantly. If we can have it now, why delay? But there are benefits to waiting! Here are some.

Waiting increases our faith

To wait is to expect for a future event to happen. It is visualizing in your mind something that has not yet arrived. As we play in our heads the thing that we expect, we teach our mind to hope that it will eventually take place. 

Faith is being sure of what we hope for and being certain of what we do not see. Like a child waiting for his father to come home, it stirs up his anticipation and develops a strong bond towards his father. The same thing happens when we pray and wait for the realization of what we pray for. As we hold on to our expectations, our faith increases. 

Waiting develops our character

Related to the increase in our faith is the development of our character. As we wait for something, we exercise our patience and become more optimistic. While it is possible that we get grumpy as we wait, especially when hope seems bleak and the waiting time has taken too long, waiting becomes more fruitful when it brings out the best in us. 

Waiting frees us time to do other things

Have you heard of the term active waiting? Though many would think of waiting as a passive activity, active waiting means not being idle while waiting for the realization of a future event. We can still be productive as we wait! 

A typical example is when a person of marrying age desires to enter into a relationship. One can't just wait for it to happen! One has to be actively waiting - meaning, work as you wait, serve as you wait, develop yourself as you wait. And when the time comes when a relationship is imminent, then you'll find yourself a better version than before. 

Waiting makes us see our priorities

When we wait, we give much thought to the things that we value. We don't expend time and energy, much more anticipation to something that we think is insignificant. When the thing we're anticipating seems immaterial, we reconsider it and shift our attention to others that are worthwhile. Waiting helps us determine our priorities in life. 

Waiting makes us appreciate our time

Time is one of the few resources we have that we can no longer renew nor save. It is constant, no matter how active or passive we are. Time ticks and is always on the move. It will not wait for us. We have to run after it!

Since waiting involves time, we don't want to waste much of it in vain. We hate it when someone arrives late in meetings. We get annoyed with people who don't seem to care about our schedule. Time is about respect. It is a great equalizer - both rich and poor, educated and those with no formal schooling, have 24 hours to maximize. So we don't have to waste it. We should value our time. 

As much as possible, I don't like to wait. But it is a natural part of life. We can't get everything in an instant, and if we do then this world would be full of impatient people. We will always act out of our whims. Waiting can be a season of growth and reflection. Don't get tired of it.