Waiting When Patience Isn’t Your Strong Suit

Right now I am in a season of waiting – personally and professionally. And let me tell you I’m no good at it AT ALL!!! I’m pretty sure patience is a gene that skipped my family altogether. But I’ve found things to help fill my season, though really I’m still in my pause.

This season of hurry up and wait has been so hard for me but such a blessing in other ways. Professionally I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but personally I know it will be years before my wait is over. And I am all to painfully aware that my personal wait may never end – on this earth anyway. However, the more I read and study God’s Word I am reminded time and time again I am not alone in this season of waiting. The Bible is filled with countless stories of His people in waiting. Abraham waited on God to make him the father of nations. Sarah, his wife, waited on God to bless her with a child. Noah waited on God to send the rain and then waited for it to end. Hannah waited for God to bless her with a son to later be returned to His service. David waited for God to give him the promised throne while spending 15 years in hiding. Ruth waited for Boaz, while Naomi, her mother-in-law, waited for her son Obed. This list could go on and on through the many examples of waiting in His Word. Waiting is just a part of life, but definitely not my favorite part! I often find myself wondering if what I want is God’s Will at all because it seems so far away and out of reach, but then I turn to His Word and am reminded that He is faithful and keeps his promises – I’ve just got to work on my patience in waiting for them.

God has a plan..

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV

Jeremiah 29:11 has become one of my favorite verses in my season of waiting. It reminds me that God has a plan for my life. And not only a plan, but thoughts of peace and not of evil, thoughts to give me a hope and a future. I know that hope is of a future in heaven if I am faithful, but I also know that He will never give me more than my faith can handle here on this earth because we have the same goal – me with Him in heaven one day.

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able”

1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV

God is faithful..

I know God is faithful. Deuteronomy 7:9 says, “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments.” 2 Timothy 2:13 says, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” Read that again, “for He cannot deny Himself” – God cannot be something He is not. He will never leave me nor forsake me, and nothing I ever do can separate me from His Love! Oh, what a faithful God we serve!

God keeps His promises..

Not only is God a faithful God, He also keeps His promises. In Joshua 21:45 it says, “Not a single one of all the good promises the Lord had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; everything He had spoken came true.” All throughout the Bible you can read of promises God made to His people and continue reading to find that all of these promises came true. In 2 Peter 3 we read, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” So not only does God keep His promises, he has patience with us when we mess up because He longs for all to be in heaven! I often have to remind myself of this in my wait – that I’m the one who is messing up and pushing things, not God. He is faithful and fulfills His promises, I just need to have faith and patience!

There is purpose in the waiting..

I also have to remind myself that God’s plans for me are for good and not evil. I’ve heard and read about people who question God’s existence because they think, “how could He let this happen?”. For example, when someone loses a loved one, or a child is diagnosed with cancer, or a couple still cannot conceive after trying everything they know of people often ask these types of questions. I know how hard it can be to not ask these questions, even if just in your thoughts, because we feeble minded humans can’t understand His master plan and want to know why life isn’t going exactly like we think it should because what we want isn’t inherently bad. But we have to remember that He knows all and plans to prosper us – He is for us , not against us! Another of my favorite verses of late is Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those that love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” It says “all things”. The good, the bad, and even the mundane, the in-between, and the waiting work together for GOOD! There is purpose in our waiting! 1 Corinthians 15:58 says, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” Your labor is not in vain! Keep working a striving and dreaming even though you’re waiting because your labor is not in vain and all things work together for good! I know this season of life is HARD, but you can’t give up and stop working and doing. The Lord is faithful and has not forgotten you!

Grow where you are planted..

There is a new “country” song out right now that has become a favorite of mine – my new theme song if you will. It’s called “Getting Good” by Lauren Alaina. In this song she talks about how if only this would happen then I’ll be this. Or if I get this then I can do this. But then she ends with the chorus of “once I learn to grow right where I’m planted maybe that’s when life starts getting good.” And the first time I heard this song that line hit me like a ton of bricks. Grow where you’re planted and stop waiting for life to happen it seemed to scream at me. I realized I wasn’t taking advantage of where life had me at the moment and was spending too much time thinking about how much better life would be when. And don’t get me wrong I still think about how life is going to be when, but I’ve learned to put those thoughts on the back burner and live for what I’ve got going right now and take advantage of the time I’ve been given to make changes and transform in this waiting season. And let me tell you the weight that was lifted off me, and the small relief I get when it creeps back, after this realization was tremendous. And I haven’t even shared the best part yet! The end of the song doesn’t have the same chorus, it ends with “I’m thinking once I learn to soak up every moment I’ll realize my life’s already good.” So embrace the wait – you never know what God has planned for you from it!

“whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

James 4:14 NKJV

Look, I know I tend to ramble when I’m typing, but I hope there was something in this message that stays with you in your season of waiting. There is an abundant amount of meaning to be found in the pain of waiting and often we never know what the purpose is until the promise is fulfilled. But let me assure you, God does not waste the wait. While we are waiting He is molding and shaping us, preparing us for when our time of waiting ends. He is transforming us. Hopefully, we will remember to look for God in our wait and listen for His instruction to follow His plan and BE PATIENT in our wait leaning on and trusting in Him.