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Throughout the Christian life comes all types of seasons. There are seasons of happiness, seasons of trials, seasons of grief, seasons of success. Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 tells us there is a time for everything. But the season where I find myself struggling most, and the season that I feel most people prefer not to endure, is the season of waiting. We are a generation of impatient people, myself included. We can get movies from Netflix in 10 seconds, we can get an entire meal in 5 minutes (it's called fast food for a reason), we can get on social media and talk to anyone from anywhere in no time, and we can Google anything we want to know in seconds. As the world evolves and develops we find ourselves having to wait less and less for the things we want. There are seasons we find ourselves wishing away and ones in which we can't seem to loosen our grip even when it's time to let go. But the season of waiting may be the most difficult to live in.Â
So what happens when we are eagerly seeking an answer from God, ready to do His will, ready to get on with whatever he wants us to do, and He tells us to wait... If you're like me, you look for a way to do things yourself. You tell yourself that you don't need to wait, that you can get on with things now. You get impatient and impulsive, and you rush the process. When I'm impatient I am foolishly leaning on my own understanding and that causes me to miss the incredible opportunity of seeing God work things out for my good and for His glory. The Bible is filled with people and stories of waiting. Abraham waited 25 years for a son, the Israelites waited 430 years to be freed from enslavement in Egypt, and David waited years to become King. But because they believed what God had promised them, they were able to wait well, have patience, and they never stopped seeking God.Â
It's easy to feel like God's forgotten about you in seasons of waiting. It's easy to feel alone, and stuck, and confused about where to go next. It's easy to feel like you're not hearing from God. But let me tell you, God hasn't forgotten about you! He hasn't stopped working in your life. God is constantly working things for the good of those who love Him. It's so important to remember that God's intervention doesn't stop in seasons of waiting. It doesn't stop when the crisis is over. God is ALWAYS working in your life for the good. God's timing is PERFECT. And because we're not God, we can't expect to understand His timing. God doesn't have to explain Himself or His timing to us. We can't demand to understand Him. But because our God is a loving, gracious, merciful, and a precious Savior, He has given us hope by promising us a wonderful future (Jeremiah 29:11), and promising us that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:6), and promising us that He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion (Philippians 1:6).Â
When you're stuck in a season of waiting, you can either crumble or cling. You can crumble beneath the weight of fear while you doubt God will come through in His timing. Or you can cling to the God of the promise, the One who is holding us in His unrelenting grip of grace. You can either give up, or you can look up. You can either panic, or you can pray. Pray for God to turn your angst into adoration, your panic into peace, your doubt into unconditional trust. Instead of getting stuck in life's changing seasons - good, bad, waiting - let's cling to the One who holds it all and holds our eternity in His unchanging hands. Psalm 63:8 says "my soul clings to You, Your right hand upholds me". Lean into God. Trust the loving hand of our precious Savior and know that He is preparing us for something amazing.
God is using this season of waiting to grow you, to prepare you, and sometimes He uses this season to protect you. Whatever you're praying for, whatever you're wanting so badly to happen, if God has told you to wait then it's because it's what's BEST. It just may not be the right time right now, God may have something so much better in store. We can't expect to understand, all we can do is trust in Him completely. This is a time where God refines us and prepares us for His good and perfect will for our lives. And God loves us too much to bring His plan into fulfillment before we are ready.Â
Psalm 25:3 says "no one who waits for you will be disgraced". Our waiting is not meaningless, it is not pointless, and it is not futile. There is purpose in the wait. Even if we can't see it. Waiting is less difficult and the future is brighter when we let God do His work in our waiting season. When we let our guard down and give up the control that we so desperately desire, we open ourselves to see how faithful He is to bring His plans for our lives into fullness. In the midst of this season of waiting, lean into Christ with all that you have. Fix your eyes on Him, and trust in His truth. Remind yourself that God is preparing you for something amazing and that His plans for you are great and wonderful. Let God teach your heart how to cling to His promises, your mind to cling to the truth of his word, and your soul to cling to his continuous presence.Â