Five colorful bluegills swim in the shallows of the creek. They seem to be waiting for something. I watch them while the kids splash in the emerald swimming hole, and I get to thinking about waiting on God.
Most of us are waiting on God for something.
We’re waiting for babies to sleep through the night.
We’re watching for the slow fade of springtime to ease into summer.
We are waiting to pay off the house or get a promotion or finally get married.
Waiting on God
It’s easy to spend our entire lives waiting for what comes next and miss the lessons that can only happen in the waiting room.
Most likely, you’re waiting for God to answer a prayer or usher you into a new season, too. Here are a few words to encourage you while you wait.
What the Bible Says
1. God blesses those who wait for him.
We can hold onto this promise in the words of Isaiah 30:18, which reads, “Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.”
2. God gives strength to those who wait for him.
We find this promise a little later in the book of Isaiah: “But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
3. God is good to those who wait for him.
We find this promise in the book of Lamentations: “The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him” (Lamentations 3:25).
These are powerful promises, but what do we do while we wait?
Let’s look at a few ways to wait well.
1. Keep watching for God, and stay engaged with him.
Waiting on the Lord is not a passive activity.
This is where many of us get waiting wrong.
We are to cast our cares upon the Lord, bring our petitions to him, and then wait. However, this doesn’t mean we sit and twiddle our thumbs while we wait inactively for God to do something.
Instead, after bringing our requests to God, we are to stay engaged with him, watching for where he is moving so that we might respond, listening to what he might want to speak, and remaining alert to what he might want to show us.
The command to pray without ceasing reminds us to pray while we wait. Don’t leave the conversation. Stay engaged. Watch for what God is doing.
When we remain engaged with God during times of waiting, we often unlock doors that lead us deeper with him. We learn the way he thinks and moves as we watch for him. We find ourselves hungry for the food of his Word, and when we chew on it as if our lives depend on it, it changes us.
God wants to use our times of waiting as bridges that lead us closer to his heart. The gateway across the bridge and closer to his heart is always open.
2. Work while you’re waiting on God.
It’s easy to let crushed dreams sideline us. Waiting can be deeply discouraging, and it’s tempting to give up.
God has called us to keep working while we wait.
The woman who believes she is called to speak to the masses in crowded auditoriums can faithfully lead three women in her living room while she waits for her dream to come to life.
The woman who wants to open her own bakery can put her whole heart into her job behind the counter of the local grocery store.
There is power in working while we wait.
3. Find something to enjoy while you wait.
Waiting is painful. Hope deferred really can make the heart sick.
For this reason, it’s important to chase joy while we wait on God.
Begin each day with a few moments spent relishing God’s gifts.
Start a gratitude journal.
Pause three times a day to give thanks in prayer.
Slow down and embrace the beautiful moments unfolding around you. Pull the car to the side of the road and admire the sunset, pick wildflowers, or roll down the window and inhale the country air.
Lick ice cream cones. Sip coffee slowly. Build a campfire and roast s’mores. Find a reason to laugh today.
We wait well when we cultivate joy in the waiting.
Whatever you’re waiting for today, have hope. God acts in his perfect timing. While you wait, cling to the promise that you never wait alone.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Stacey Pardoe
Featured Image by Meritt Thomas on Unsplash
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