Have you ever been anxiously waiting on something? Maybe it was to hear back about whether you got the job, maybe you were waiting for the results of a test, or maybe you have been praying for answers and just waiting for answers. There are many different situations in life that we may face that put us in a period of waiting. I have faced several, but I think the most difficult has been knowing God has said yes to something, but it didn’t happen right away. How do you wait patiently? How do you keep from being fretting about the timing? We often view waiting as a passive time period, but what if it’s not meant to be? What if the waiting is not just a space between the now and what’s to come, but a period of purposeful growth? Maybe what we are waiting on we aren’t ready for and the waiting is there to prepare us.

 

Throughout the scriptures there are examples of people waiting on the Lord. Abraham and Sarah prayed for a son and waited and waited. Even after God told them his promise they still had to wait, at one point they even tried taking things into their own hands (that didn’t turn out so great). The Israelites had to wait 40 years to enter the promised land. Moses waited 40 years before leading his people out of slavery. Joseph waited 13 years to see God’s promise come to fruition. You see the pattern, God fulfills his promises, but he does it in his own timing not ours.

 

Let’s be honest though none of us really like waiting. We get impatient, frustrated, worried. We want things and we want them now, but waiting on God deepens our faith and helps us to build our trust in the Lord. “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings of eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31 ESV We need to learn patience and perseverance by spending time in God’s presence and bringing all our concerns to him. One of my favorite verses in scripture is Philippians 4:6-7 “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

 

I have learned that the times of waiting can be times for growth and that waiting is not always a bad thing. So the next time you are facing a period of waiting, look and see what God may be trying to use it for, maybe he’s preparing your heart for the answer to your prayer, or maybe he is trying to draw you closer to him. No matter what we can be sure there is a reason for the waiting and we can remember this, “Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord.” 

 

Psalm 31:24

 

Susan Knowlton
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