Psalm 37:7 (NLT)
Be still in the presence of the Lord,
and wait patiently for him to act.
I was born six weeks too early. As a result of complications at birth, I developed spinal meningitis and spent my first several weeks in the hospital. As a kid, I took a short cut through the neighbors’ backyard and voluntarily climbed through a large shrub resulting in scratches and cuts, just to avoid having to walk the extra quarter of a mile back home from my friend’s house. From the very beginning, my clear lack of patience was greater than any resulting physical consequence.
Let’s be honest, the word “patience” may as well be a curse word in today's world. Even prayer circles warn about praying for “patience.” So what happens when you find yourself in a season where all you can do is be patient for God to move in your life?
Waiting can prove to be difficult and can even test our faith. We can find ourselves discouraged, worried about the future and sometimes questioning God’s plan for us. Perhaps that is why the Bible talks so frequently about waiting.
Waiting doesn’t have to be a passive activity in this season. It can actually help to develop us by drawing us closer to God and can produce fruits of the spirit like patience, faithfulness, joy and peace.
Are you currently in a season of waiting?
When God first called me into this season it didn’t make sense and honestly, some days it still doesn’t.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT) says:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.
It is in these seasons of waiting we realize where our trust truly lies. Do we believe fully in the promises of God? Or are we leaning on our own abilities and understanding? It is easy to say we trust God, but do our responses to life’s frustrations and delays clearly reflect a hope in Christ?
God loves us and is committed to us. The cross is proof of His commitment. God calls us into seasons of waiting in order to teach us that nothing will ever truly satisfy our hearts the way He can. Developing patience thus inevitably involves some form of waiting.
James 1:3-4 (NLT) says:
For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
As we draw closer to God in this season, our confidence in His promises and character also grows. It is with this confidence and faith that we wait with expectancy on the Lord.
Psalm 5:3 (NLT)
Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord.
Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.