Waiting

Waiting means that you are practising being strong, you are building your strength, encouraging your heart, and meditating on God’s words and his promises for your life- (Psalm 27:14).

When you wait in whatever situation you are in, you will be strengthened (Isaiah 40:31).  Waiting and being patient on the Lord, brings God’s blessings (Isaiah 30:18) and goodness (Lamentations 3:25). You will find hope and shelter in the Lord (Psalms 33:20-22).

What are you waiting on the Lord for, right now? Are you waiting in frustration or are you waiting the way God asked you to wait? Below are some of the ways in which we are to wait on God for what we are seeking from him.

When you are waiting:

• You must keep to the ways of the Lord, and walk in his ways and not yours. Don’t try and do things on your own understanding (Psalms 37:34 & Proverbs 3:5-6).
• Wait in silence before God – meaning you don’t fight physically or try to take matters into your own hands but you fight by being silent, where your silence is staying in complete intimacy with the Holy Spirit (Psalms 62:5 & Proverbs 20:22)
• You have to be still, and patient – meaning that you don’t envy other people’s life or compare yours to theirs but you must rest in God and wait on His timing (Psalms 37:7)
• Find hope in God’s word (psalm 130:5)

When you wait on God, you are demonstrating your trust in him. While you’re waiting, you’re waiting in the unknown but also knowing that the outcome of the promises in the scripture will soon become your reality.

Transformation is built during waiting. To get the full transformation experience as a child of God, you must wait on God. That means you don’t sit around being frustrated, angry or bitter that you haven’t received what you asked God for. But it means believing that everything you are going through is for a reason, for your growth.

As children of God, we are expected by God to carry on representing him regardless of what our circumstances are.

Waiting is hard! Oh, it’s so hard, especially when you believe you need to have what you’re praying to God for “right now”. We have the scripture and the Holy Spirit to help us. At times, the consistent reminder that God has a plan for you will get you through that waiting season (Jeremiah 29:11). Reminding yourself that God has not forgotten you and that He has a perfect plan for your life will get you through the season.

While waiting, be sure to know that the thoughts of the enemy will try to creep into your mind and tell you the opposite of what God’s promises are. So, prepare your mind and equip yourself by reading, studying and meditating on the word of God.

Waiting on God tests your faith in him and in your belief that God is your hope in all circumstances.

Waiting requires persistence. Just like Daniel who had to wait for God to deliver his people from Babylon for 70 years, he didn’t grow bitter. He lived his purpose and became one of the most influential men of his time. He still achieved his calling. There is no excuse to not become who God has called you to be while waiting for the Lord. Whether you’re waiting for God to move in areas of your life- health, career, or family, that shouldn’t stop you from living out what God has placed in your life. Do something in your waiting!

There’s a lesson in everything we go through. When circumstances come your way and you have no choice but to wait, ask God:

• What do you want me to learn from this?
• What do you want to teach me through this?
• What should I be doing right now?

It’s not all the time that God will tell you exactly what He is doing in that season, but the majority of the time when you ask the Holy Spirit what you should be doing while you’re waiting, He will tell you.

The worst thing is to be oblivious to what you are supposed to be doing in your waiting season and not learn the lesson that brought you to that season in the first place or not learn the lesson the season is supposed to teach you. Until you learn the lesson in a season, it will be difficult to move past that season.

People of the Bible were not perfect and yes, like all humans, some of the great people of the bible also made mistakes, some were big mistakes but what they did was learn from their mistakes. They acknowledged their wrongs, repented and turn back to God (People like King David). This is growth. Growth is not the absence of making mistakes but the presence of not repeating the mistake twice (Grace Aribasoye).

As children of God, we will have countless seasons of waiting, some could be for five months and others five years. In whatever waiting season you’re in, represent God to the best of your ability, through your consistent prayer and service to the King. He will reward your efforts and crown your persistence in your faith.

Like most people, I have had many seasons of waiting. Some seasons I just went through without thinking I had to learn anything from it and others challenged my faith, built me up and made me stronger. I found that the more I took my faith (my God) more seriously – meaning that I was more intentional about being in tune with the seasons of my life, I began to learn the lessons, and prayed more intentionally when I was in a waiting season. It helped me to ask God the right questions and ask him to give me his peace so that I don’t try and self-sabotage the season.

There was a particular season of my life I waited for more than 6 months for a job. This was hard! And I learnt and grew so much in my spirituality. Let me share a little bit of what I learnt while I was waiting.

One of the biggest things that I learned during my season of waiting for God for a job was that God’s will is real! I’ve always prayed to God that let his will be done in my life but at the same time, I had certain parts of the will written and pictured in my mind the way they should look and feel. But God doesn’t work like that, in fact, God will never work like that. Once you say “God let your will be done in my life” that means you’ve completely ripped your will and you’ve now decided to walk alongside God and trust him with your entire life. This is easy to read and to say, but to do, is a whole completely different thing! But in the season, I’ve learned that it has to be God’s will and never my will and because I have decided to follow Jesus throughout my whole life here on earth and in eternity, I have to trust what Jeremiah 29:11 says at all times and have Proverbs 3:5-6 at the template of my heart.

The thing with God’s will, is that He never reveals the whole thing to us in full revelation but He reveals it in stages that comes with waiting, tests, trials, and challenges. Jeremiah 1:5 says before we were born, He knew us. During this season I’ve wondered “so, if God knew every part of us then why wouldn’t He just tell us what our lives will be, so we can always choose the right way and never make mistakes”. Yes, He knows what will happen even before we were born, it’s the trials, tests, and challenges that will strip us out of ourselves in which this world try to shape us into. But tribulations and perseverance will push us to know God to become the real man and women God created us to be.

God made us from the beginning of time in which sin entered through Adam. The trials and challenges bring us to our knees, humble us and made us blameless and righteous in the eyes of God. It’s how God view us that matters, it is his opinion that counts for us.

Don’t be like Sarah, trying to help God work faster. In your waiting season, trust God and wait on the appointed time promised. Even though it may seem long, wait on the Lord.

Never think that you can fast-track God’s plans. Man’s idea is not God’s idea, and no one can help God (Sarah tried and it only ended in hurt). God sees the bigger picture and our role is to trust Him. We can’t push God to answer us when we want, He is God and He does whatever He pleases- Daniel 11:35