Waiting is a process we all go through in our lives. Some of us have more experience in waiting than others. A few need to learn it more than others. Everything takes time and everything is on God’s timetable, not ours. Let’s learn more about how to wait because God is working in our waiting.
Although waiting can seem like forever, it is probably not that long for God. As 2 Peter 3:8 says. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
Waiting… has been my life this past year.
Noah and His Waiting
Noah in the Bible knew waiting all too well. Noah got instructions from God to build the Ark and waited for the next instructions while he worked on the Ark. It took him many, many, many years to build the Ark. They think it took possibly 55-75 years to build it. Yikes, that’s almost a whole lifetime of waiting today.
The next instructions were to get two of every creature and his family in the ark and wait for it to rain. Genesis 7:4 “Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.”
Genesis 7:6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth.”
Finally, they had to wait for it to quit raining and wait for the land to dry. Genesis 7:24 “The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.” Now that is many, days waiting. Waiting is a part of life.
While Noah served and obeyed God, he waited. Genesis 6:22 “Noah did everything just as God commanded him.” It seems like they go hand and hand, and we must learn to wait well. Needless to say, Noah lived to 950 years and still had 350 years of life to live after the ark part of his life.
My Waiting
This year has been a lot of waiting for me. If we had not sensed God’s call to make a change in our life, I do not know if I would have been waiting? I do know I would not have been obeying God. We sold our house, quit our jobs, took a 120-day traveling sabbatical, then waited for “what next God?”
We waited all summer for jobs or God’s next plan for us. We grew and trusted God in his plan and waited. As we waited, we got rejected. In the middle of that wait, my husband’s father passed away, and then we discovered why we were still waiting. We needed to be where we were to be with family. I am glad God had us wait.
After the family life change was over my husband not only got one job offer but two at the same time. My husband took the job in Virginia and by December 1st he was working. In my head, I was thinking, oh good the wait is over. Maybe that’s what Noah thought, Oh Good, I got the Ark done.
Again, we are waiting for God’s plan for a house we should buy, and the church we need to become a part of and friends. We still go day by day knowing God shows us where we are headed and what is next. Maybe we are here to wait for the next thing he has for us. Only God knows. We just do the next right thing before us.
God is Working in Your Waiting
I do know many of you have been waiting this year too. We all have been waiting for COVID to go away, sickness to leave our bodies, for things to go back to normal, for the Election to be over, and for winter to be done. So many things we wait through in our lives. God is working in your waiting too.
If you want more information on Answers from God see the blog called Yes, NO, or Wait.
Why Wait?
Why all the waiting? I like to think that sometimes we wait because God hasn’t orchestrated all the pieces to be put together.
For example, when I think of waiting for a house. God knows we are picky and our motives. He may have the perfect house for us, but someone is living in it. He knows they need to move to another city in a few months and so they are not ready to sell or don’t even know they will be selling their house. God knows his plans for us, and we don’t.
A pregnant mom knows that she needs to wait nine months to deliver her baby at the proper size. Plus, she needs to prepare her heart and physical surroundings to be this child’s mom. Waiting has its benefits to allow the family to be ready for what is coming ahead.
Sometimes we know what we are waiting for and at other times we don’t. When you plant a package of seeds, you know what you are waiting for. You know approximately how many days it will take for the seeds to pop out of the ground and produce a flower or fruit.
Waiting may bring the proper healing your bodies need. God knows he can heal your body now or it can be repaired on its own in 6 weeks. Sometimes your wait is because your heart is not ready for his plan. We may have a bad attitude now or maybe he knows the longer you wait the closer you will grow in your faith. Maybe the wait will reveal God’s Glory or a Miracle.
God’s got time. A day is like 1000 years.
How to Wait Well
The best way to look at waiting is… it’s a must in life and we may as well do it right.
Here are some Tips for waiting well.
- As you wait obey God in what he wants you to do.
- Have a good attitude as you wait or be of good cheer.
- Be Thankful as you wait and try not to complain.
- Use your time wisely as you wait. You may have been given extra time as a gift.
- Know God is working out the details and be patient.
- Grow in your faith and learn to love God more.
- Spend your time in prayer for yourself and others.
- Praise God.
- Know others are watching you as you wait.
- Give of your time and talent to help others in need. Physically, Mentally, Spiritually, Emotionally, or Financially.
As you wait you may want to be Mumbling and Meditating on God’s word to get you through. See this link for more ideas.
What Happens if You Don’t Wait?
Abram has a story to tell you about that. I love his example because when he didn’t wait and acted on his own it resulted in a son named Ishmael whose mom was Hagar, Sarah’s Servant.
Genesis 16:1-2 “Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”
That was not God’s original plan. Isaac was to be born by Sarah even in her old age. They got tired of waiting and made decisions on their own to fulfill God’s promise of descendants and a great nation. Their decision to not wait for God complicated their lives. God worked it all out in the End.
Abram Tested
Finally, as Abram got older and learned to trust God, he brought Isaac to be sacrificed per God’s instructions. God intervened at the last minute and provided a ram for him to sacrifice instead. Abram’s faith and obedience were tested as he waited.
Genesis 22:9-13 “He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said.
“Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram[a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.”
What Does the Bible Say About Waiting?
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word, I put my hope. Psalms 130:5
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5
But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Romans 8:25
In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait. Psalms 5:3
Waiting is a part of life and in our waiting, we learn, grow, praise, thank, trust, become obedient, and listen. In the end, we come out of our waiting with more of God and maybe even a miracle.
Waiting
Trust God and learn how to live in the waiting, don’t wait for the waiting to go away. As I was thinking about waiting and how I could make the WAIT easier I came up with this acrostic to remember how to wait well.
As you WAIT= Walk- Always- In- Thanks. God is working in our waiting.
What are you waiting for? How can I pray for your wait? Comment with your waiting.
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Dear Anna,
Thank you for this message on waiting. My husband and I have decided to move to Virginia, Mn to be near to our son and his family. The housing market is very limited there. So we have joined you in waiting on God’s timing. I often think of your obedience to God’s call. It is an encouragement for me. Fun to see the “seeds of hope” in your blog. Love you, dear one.
Orla
Thanks for those seeds of hope. When I got them in the mail…I instantly thought of including them in my blog. Blessings to you. I will be praying for your house too.
Thank you.
Anna