Waiting...

There are so many verses about this. About faithfulness. About drawn out trust. There’s also stories of God promising things: a son and a nation to Abraham, the promised land to the Israelites, a Savior to the world. 

If you know these stories you know humans rush God. We want what is promised when we want it. But God is beyond our knowledge of time and understanding of the world. His promises activate when he plans and purposes them to. Disobedience prolongs this. Impatience creates bitterness. 

Satan wants us to doubt God and nurture a distaste and disregard for Him. 

What is true? What does the Bible say about waiting?

Often waiting is where preparation occurs. When David was on the run from the very kingdom promised to him, he cried out to God on multiple accounts. But this exile developed a deeper heart and trust in the Lord. The Psalms are David’s heart cry to him. His time in hiding actually prepared him. 

Abraham grew impatient in his waiting for a son and manipulated God’s promise by using a servant to bear his offspring. This came with consequences that not only he but Hagar bore. Abraham’s choices affected those around him and hurt them, but it also brought him back to the Lord. 

John the Baptist eagerly awaited the Messiah and made it his delight and duty to prepare the way for him. He waited in active pursuit of the prophecy promised. His life shows what joy can be found in trusting the Lord and seeking him. 

This whole earth is awaiting our savior. We all have an inward longing for being known. I love how Romans 8:22-25 puts it: 

No one knows us better than Jesus, and if he knows what is best, how much more genuine and unconditional is his love? We are not waiting alone- the Holy Spirit is our helper! Helping us pray, giving us words we don’t have, interceding for us on our behalf, and his fruit is patience!

I’ll leave you with this quote on waiting, I feel like it sums up perfectly the heart posture we are called to have in those seasons: “Waiting: an eager anticipation and yearning for the revelation of truth and love as it is in the father. A listening ear, a heart responsive to the wooing of God, a concentration on the spiritual faculties upon heavenly things, the patience of faith.”