Holding on to Hope?

So recently I was talking with a friend. We were talking about what it means to hold on to the promises of God. Through the conversation, we realized that we had different perspectives on the same subject and that the perspectives we had were two different sides of the same coin.

As the conversation progressed, it gave me a new perspective on an old question... what does it mean to wait well?

Proverbs tells us that hope deferred makes the heart sick. That is one of those verses that makes waiting sometimes hard. When I am waiting on the Lord to do a work, the question has to be asked, for what am I waiting? Am I waiting for God, or am I waiting for the "thing?"

If I am waiting for God, then I can take confidence in the idea that God said it, I believe it, and now I can wait until He brings it about. But if I am waiting for the fulfillment, for "the thing" then I may have no peace, because I can become desperate for that "thing."

Paul tells us that Godliness with contentment brings great gain. So again, the question has to be, what do I take from that verse? Am I looking for the great gain, or am I looking for the godliness?

See, it all boils down to- what is the root? Using marriage for example, I can remember waiting for Osmel. It was hard at times for me to rest in the waiting because I couldn't be sure that I would get what I wanted. That what God's will for me was the same as my hope. But in waiting well, I am not waiting for the husband, or the child, or the "thing." I am waiting for God to do a work (in me). I'm waiting for Him to perfect me and with that work, waiting for Him to bring about the things that He has for my life. I am able to wait well because my hope is in Him, not in what I want Him to do for me.