Unfairness in Waiting

Waiting is tough enough. But it's even tougher when it seems like others around us aren't having to wait their turn. It's frustrating when, for instance, I'm in the waiting room at the doctor's office and someone who came in after me gets called ahead of me. 

It's a lot more frustrating--and often painful--when there are people in our lives whose dreams are being fulfilled while we still wait. A friend on Facebook recently posted a praise that God had granted her dreams of becoming a wife and mother before she turned 30. As someone who's about to enter her last year as a 30-something, who likewise dreams of being a wife and mother and yet with seemingly no husband prospects on the horizon (not to mention children), I have to admit that I wrestled a bit with feeling like I'd been gypped.

I don't begrudge my friend having her dreams come true--it's just hard to not wonder why some get their dreams granted and others don't. I know I'm not alone in this struggle--there are plenty of others (maybe even you) who are waiting for a spouse and children, waiting for a job, waiting for a financial breakthrough, waiting for healing from a physical or emotional setback. And you too struggle with seeing others around you get the family, get the job, get out of debt, get good health while you continue to wait and wait and wait.

I don't have an answer for why life is unfair at times, why some have to wait longer than others and why some prayers are never answered the way we want them to be. In times like this when unfilled dreams really weigh heavily on me, I remind myself that God's timing and ways are perfect. I try to recall times in my life and the lives of others when He came through at just the right time and just the right way.

I also try to meditate on different verses of Scripture that encourage me. A couple of years ago I came across this passage from Habakkuk that has really come to be a favorite of mine:

Though the fig tree does not bud
    and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
    and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
    and no cattle in the stalls,
¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
    I will be joyful in God my Savior. (Habakkuk 3:17-18)

Do you too find it hard to deal with unmet desires when it feels like everyone else around you is having their dreams come true? What encourages you in this struggle?