Waiting is no easy game.
In the fall of 2024, I had to wait for my son’s bloodwork results. An illness made his numbers a little wonky, but since no immediate concerning symptoms were present, his pediatrician suggested we wait and retest the following week.
Boy, nothing sits heavy in a mama’s heart like being told to wait to find out if there’s something really wrong with her kiddo.
In our relationship with God, we also experience periods of waiting. Though instant, miraculous divine intervention is never outside the realm of possibility, God’s hand of help is often shown over time—time that can be really difficult for us to bear. Like me with my son’s bloodwork, we chafe at the lapsing time. We want answers now—in fact, we’d like to have had them yesterday, thank you very much.
But when we hurry and rush, we may miss the lessons that only waiting can bring.
Not only does this happen in our own lives, but in Scripture too! Joseph had to wait many years in prison before he ascended to Pharaoh’s right hand. Israel often waited for deliverance after the strife that came from generational disobedience. King David ran from Saul for a long time. Jesus didn’t rush into his ministry as an adolescent; he waited three decades, learning and growing and obeying, before he became a Rabbi and gathered his disciples.
Waiting is a crucible, like much of what we face in this life. It’s a fire that can refine us if we turn our hearts to the Lord in that difficult pause. Waiting doesn’t have to be a time where we sit idly, consumed with worst-case scenarios (though believe me, I started that way while waiting for my son’s bloodwork!). God showed me that while I wait on the Lord, I can pray, fast, meditate on Scripture, connect to supportive people, praise and worship, weep, learn, and grow. None of these are easy. But we may miss them entirely if we don’t have to stop and wait.
Are you in a season of waiting? This week, we encourage you to consider how this waiting period can grow you. How can you step closer to Jesus in this season? How can you become more refined, more Christlike, more God-fearing right now? What lessons can you glean from your relationship with your Lord as you wait? What would it look like to trust that he is working in all things for your good?
In this life, we will have to wait on the Lord. Let’s make these periods a season of renewing our strength. Let’s lean into the waiting rather than fight against it. And let’s seek out the lessons and growth God might have in store for us as we pray, trust, and wait on Him.
