Whether it’s waiting for a career switch, or waiting for the right future spouse to come along, or waiting for the finances to get into a better home, or waiting for good news after a medical diagnosis, or waiting for the double line on the pregnancy test to appear, especially after suffering a miscarriage; waiting is not easy. In fact, sometimes it can be downright frustrating AND emotional. Oh, how my heart goes out for you if you are in a season of waiting.
When we are in those seasons, it may feel like the world around us is moving fast. We might see others that are where we hope to be. And trust me, I have been there so much…but remember that saying? I’m sure you know it…. “Comparison is the Thief of Joy!” Waiting for something is a whole lot harder if our eyes are on others and on what we don’t have, rather than on Jesus.
Micah 7:7 says, “But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. (ESV)”
Friend, I know it’s hard-but God does HEAR us, He knows the desires of our hearts, and He really does care. More than anything God wants us to desire Him and to keep our eyes on Him alone. It doesn’t mean that this season will make sense; I often wonder what God is doing. But I can also attest to the fact, in my own experience and the testimony of many others who have shared their stories, many seasons make more sense after we have fully past through them and can look back on them.
That doesn’t mean we will always understand why things had to go a certain way; but they often make a whole lot less sense in the middle of the journey. And it doesn’t mean that it isn’t painful. I know it can be. But I think of Joseph (you know; the guy with the rainbow coat?) He was despised by his brothers, sold into slavery, taken away from his home, accused of doing horrible things, when he was innocent. But despite all this, Genesis 39: 21 mentions, “That the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in sight of the keeper in prison.”
On the outside, what Joseph went through looked horrible. Joseph had to wait for years to see what God was doing. We don’t know his thoughts; maybe he wondered if his original dreams (of his brother’s sheaves bowing down to him and of the sun, moon, and stars bowing down to him) were just a fluke, maybe he wondered if he would be imprisoned for the rest of his life, maybe he wondered if God was punishing him; but we do know that God NEVER abandoned Joseph and that Joseph continued to put his faith in the Lord.
When we are in a season of waiting it can be extra hard because we don’t have control. Sometimes there is only so much we can do…God has ultimate control and it’s easy for us to want to seize that from him. Psalm 37: 7 says, “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.” Being STILL and waiting for the Lord doesn’t necessarily mean that we are physically still. Rather our hearts and our minds are STILL-restful, quiet; not writhing in fear or anxiety, rather sitting in peace and hope in the Lord.
So take heart, waiting one, it isn’t easy. It might even be heartbreaking…but the Lord hears your heart’s desire and he is with you in the waiting. And if we think about it, He knows better than any of us what waiting looks and feels like. How often does he wait on us? You are NOT on God’s back burner. It might not make sense, but He wants us to draw close during this season, and He wants you to lean on Him.
Thank you Lauren for reminding us all that sometimes we may not understand, but through it all Our Heavenly Father is right there beside us, holding us as we journey forward.