My stomach is in knots, my palms are sweaty, and I feel like screaming. I want things my way, and I want to be in control.
What do you do when you are forced to wait? Perhaps there is a situation in your life that has forced you to wait. Maybe it’s a lifelong dream to become a parent, or meet the love of your life, or get that job you always wanted. Doesn’t it seem like God has forgotten about you sometimes?
Waiting is one of the hardest things in life. Especially in our society where everything is expected to be fast, immediate, and instantly gratifying. (Does you remember the days before high-speed internet?) Most of us get frustrated and annoyed when we have to wait in a long line at the grocery store, or if there is an elderly person driving in front of us. Patience just doesn’t come naturally to us.
If I wait, I’m going to miss out on something good!
Wow. This argument can be so convincing. We’ve all fallen for it at some point. After all, it’s what we hear and see all the time on TV, movies, and on Youtube. It’s the deception that advertisers thrive on. But nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, if you believe in what God has said in the Bible, you will see that the opposite is true: Waiting is so good for us.
Promises for waiting
There are endless stories of people whose lives have developed such strong, Christ-like character, who can point to their times of waiting as one of the ways God developed their strength of character. The apostle Paul confirms this principle in Romans 5:
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. (Romans 5:3-4)
See how the problems and trials should actually be viewed as something to be thankful for? Because without those trials, we would be weak, impulsive, and not looking very much like Christ at all.
Be still before the Lord
and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.
For those who are evil will be destroyed,
but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.
~Psalm 37:7-9
Lamentations 3 is an excellent passage about waiting, because it shows us the character of God towards those who wait for him. The prophet Jeremiah was undergoing so much emotional pain and turmoil, and he was crying out to God. In the midst of the darkness of his despair, the sun breaks through as he writes,
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
~Lamentations 3:22-26
In this passage alone, we see these things attributed to the Lord: his great love, his unfailing compassions, his great faithfulness, his goodness, and his salvation. And in reflection of all these things, Jeremiah settles his heart to hope in the Lord, wait quietly for him, and seek him.
Often we get ourselves into huge messes, and we are forced to wait for God to deliver us. God calls us to wait on him, and yet the more we choose to go our own way and tune out his voice and warnings, the more we will find that we are in fact forfeiting great blessings of joy and peace and fulfillment because we refuse to do the difficult work of waiting. When God asks us to wait, it can really seem to us at times like he is trying to punish us, or he doesn’t care enough to give us what we want. I know that I have fallen for that lie at times. But we need to not put so much emphasis on our feelings, and instead continue to search for what God says about waiting.
Psalm 40 says,
I waited patiently for the Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
and put their trust in him.
~Psalm 40:1-3
I love what the Lord does in this passage! And I love that it’s his heart to hear, rescue, and restore! But notice also what the psalmist is saying here… “I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.” If the Lord heard his cry, then that means the psalmist wasn’t waiting silently. The type of waiting that we need to be imitating is an active waiting. It means continuing to pour out your heart to him, and trusting that he will come and rescue you. It means waiting and crying out to God, instead of trying to fix things yourself.
I just can’t wait.
Waiting is a part of our new nature. Those of us who have come to know Jesus as our Saviour and Lord have died with Him, and have been given a brand new life. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul writes, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20 NIV). This means that we no longer have to sin. You can never say, “I just can’t wait” if you have been born again. God’s spirit is alive in you, and one of the fruits of His spirit is patience. Unfortunately, while we are still living here on earth in our fleshly bodies, we have a huge battle to keep in step with the Spirit (our new nature), and to not obey our sinful desires (our old nature). It’s a struggle, but it’s not an impossible one.
Dear friend, may you be encouraged and strengthened in whatever you are waiting for. Trust in the Lord, because those who wait for him will not be disappointed!
Blessings,
Lindsey