No one enjoys waiting. In our fast-paced world, we’re used to instant gratification. Modern technology keeps the world moving at an ever increasing pace. We want what we want now, not later. We don’t want to have to wait. We definitely don’t want to have to wait long, and patience? Well, patience is something we wish God would just drop in our lap rather than something He demands that we earn by waiting. Waiting on the Lord is not an easy thing. Waiting is hard. But oftentimes, our growth comes in the times of waiting themselves.
God has a plan for my life. God’s plan is perfect, and it’s perfect for me. God’s plan for my life is unique. He knows the plans He has for me. He knows what I need to accomplish those plans. He knows my strengths and my weaknesses. He knows where I need to grow and stretch to become more like Him. He knows the parts of my flesh I need to die to in order to become more like Him. The thing about God’s plans are that they occur in His timing. God’s plan and God’s timing go hand in hand. He reveals His plans to us often one step at a time. Sometimes God delays giving us what we ask for because He wants to give us something better. Sometimes God delays in giving us what we ask for because He knows that we are asking with wrong motives and for the wrong reasons. Sometimes God delays in giving us what we ask for because He needs to prepare us to receive it. Sometimes God delays in giving us what we ask for because He needs to prepare other people.
When we rush ahead of God’s timing and try to do things on our own timeline, we step outside the will of God. We delay the blessings that He has in mind for us. We bring pain and suffering on ourselves. We may cause heartache and suffering in others. Failing to wait on the Lord will cost us. It will keep us from experiencing God’s best for our lives. When God brings us to a place of waiting we have a choice to make: 1) We can choose to attempt to manipulate our circumstances in order to get what we want in our time and on our terms. 2) We can give up and walk away. or 3) We can wait and watch God work.
Sometimes we think of waiting as just sitting around twiddling our thumbs and doing nothing, but waiting is not passively sitting around. Waiting on God is an active stillness. It’s an expectancy. God wants us to learn to wait on Him. He wants to be Lord of our life. He wants us to be humble, to give Him control. He wants us to be obedient and to only take the steps that He has given us to take as He gives them to us to take. He wants us to trust in Him and in His goodness. God wants us to wait; but even beyond that, God wants us to wait well. After all, patience isn’t just about waiting. It’s about the attitude we have while we are waiting.
HOW ARE WE TO WAIT?
- We are to wait patiently. Psalm 37:7
- We are to wait quietly. Psalm 62:1 and Psalm 62:5
- We are to wait faithfully trusting in God. Psalm 37:7
- We are to wait expectantly. Psalm 27:13
- We are to wait steadfastly. Psalm 27:14
- We are to wait by standing on God’s Word. Psalm 130:5
When I think about the fact that waiting on God is to be a time of expecting, I think about what it was like when I was pregnant with my children. When I learned that I was pregnant, I didn’t sit around doing nothing. Instead, I worked to get ready for the baby. I prepared myself. I prepared my home. When I had other children, I prepared them. The entire pregnancy was a time of preparation and excitement. When we are waiting on the Lord, it is also a time of preparation and excitement. When we are asking according to the will of God, we know that He hears us and that we will receive whatever it is we are asking of Him (1 John 5:14-15).
So what are some things I can do while I wait on God that will help me wait well?
- I have to determine for myself that God is enough. Waiting is hard, and it gets difficult and discouraging at times. The longer I have to wait, the more often I have to fight those feelings of discouragement and those attacks of doubt that the enemy sends my way. When I determine beforehand that God is enough, I can cling to that in the hard times. If God answers my prayer, that’s a blessing, but even if He doesn’t answer my prayer, He is enough. I have victory already because of the things God has already done. Even if He never answered another prayer, I am beyond blessed. That attitude helps me wait well.
- I need to pray. Sometimes when God is silent for a while or when He has asked me to wait for an answer to my prayer, it gets hard to keep praying. If I let them, feelings of resentment can creep in. I can get angry with God for not working on my timetable, and those feelings can make me distance myself from God. Those are the moments when I need to press in. The word “waiting” in Hebrew can mean “bind together.” When I am waiting, I need to pour into my intimacy with God. I need to be close enough to hear His voice, even if He chooses to whisper. The closer I am to God, the easier it is to hear His voice. The easier it becomes to know when He’s telling me to “go” and when He’s telling me to “stop.” I need to persist in prayer and in seeking after God’s guidance and wisdom while I wait.
- I need to trust. Trusting can be difficult if I don’t know what I’m trusting God for or if I don’t know if what I’m asking is in God’s will or not. An easy solution to this problem is to spend time in God’s Word. God’s Word is where He reveals His will to me. It’s where I learn who He is, what He’s done for me, what He wants for me, and who I am in Him. When I spend time in His Word, God can give me a quickened word to stand on while I wait. I can cling to that promise and speak it out in the times when the waiting gets hard.
- I need to serve. The word “wait” is a part of the word “waiter.” When we go to a restaurant, a waiter comes to our table and serves us. When I am waiting for God, it can be easy to focus on the things that I am waiting for and that I currently lack. Focusing on what I lack takes my eyes off of God. Serving, instead, puts my focus on something and someone other than myself. I can pour out the blessings God has already given me to others so that I free my hands to receive the new blessings God has in store for me. If I keep everything to myself, then my hands are too full to open up and receive from God.
- I need to praise. When Paul and Silas were waiting in the dungeon, they didn’t sit around doing nothing. Instead, they used the time to sing and praise God. While they were singing, God showed up in a big way. Just like serving, praising puts my focus off myself and my lack and back on God. Praising can also include reminding myself of how great God is and all the things He’s done for me. The thing about God is that if He did it before, He will do it again. I can wait well knowing that God will never leave me or forsake me, and I know that by remembering the times in the past where He saw me through and praising Him for those times.
Every time that God asks me to wait is a time for me to do each of these steps a bit better and a bit faster. Every time that God asks me to wait is a time for me to learn something new about God, to see Him in a different way, to get a bigger picture of who He is and what He can do. God is moving me from glory to glory, changing me to be more and more like Him. When I walk in step with Him and in His timing, I get to experience His best in my life. Each period of waiting is a period where God is preparing me for the next thing He has for me. It’s a time where He is refining me, strengthening me, preparing me, growing me, and changing me. It’s a time to draw close to Him. It doesn’t get easier, but my attitude gets better the more I focus on the right things. The better my attitude gets the more I can see God’s work in the waiting…the things He is doing while I wait on Him to answer my prayers. The better I wait the more grateful I am when His answer finally comes.
Here are some of God’s promises about waiting:
- Psalm 27:11-14
- Psalm 25:1-3
- Psalm 37:7-9
- Psalm 37:34
- Psalm 40:1
- Isaiah 64:4
- Psalm 119:74
- Psalm 119:81
- Psalm 106:6-15
- Psalm 130:5
A Beautiful Mess 