Jesus could have come and healed Lazarus when he was still alive. Instead He waited to raise him from the dead when he was already in his grave.
God could have made David become King the day after he was anointed. Instead he waited 15 years to rise to the throne, many of those years spent fearing for his life, hiding out and running away from his own father-in-law.
God could have spoken to Moses in the desert about sending him to help free His people from slavery 40 days after he ran away from Egypt. Instead, He made him wait for 40 long years.
God could have given Abraham the son He promised him when he was still a young man. Instead, He waited until He was 100 years old and because of physical reasons would have a more difficult time conceiving at that age.
God could have answered prayers and met the needs of these men of God much quicker but He didn’t.
He made them wait instead.
And He often makes us do the same. He makes us wait for healing to come after we’ve been praying for years and there is no sign of recovery. He makes us wait to fulfill His call in our lives after He puts the desire and passion in our hearts to serve Him in a certain way. He makes us wait to give us the desires of our hearts. Whether it’s a baby, a spouse, or a new job. He makes us wait for a direction when we are stuck at a dead end and we don’t know where to go or what to do. He could answer that same prayer that you’ve been praying for years every night in a millisecond. That same prayer that has been bringing you to tears. That same prayer that the longer that it goes unanswered, the more it makes you question whether He even heard.
He kept Moses in a desert for 40 years
Joseph in a prison cell for 10 years
Abraham without a child for 100 years
David on the run for 15 years
And maybe He is keeping you right where you’re at for the same reason He kept these for so many years: TO BUILD YOUR FAITH
To build your faith in a dungeon cell during the valley in your life where it’s too dark to see and too hard to believe. To build your dependence on Him when you are barren and empty to see it. He is truly all you desire and all you need. To see how well you will trust and serve Him when you are still stuck.
To build your trust in Him when the storm keeps raging, the battle keeps going and breakthrough and victory doesn’t seem near.
See…sometimes the waiting periods of our lives are the most important time in our life. It is during these periods when nothing seems to be happening, when prayers seem to go unanswered, when God seems so far away that the most spiritual growth takes place in our lives; that we learn to become more like Him. It is during these times that we build spiritual “muscle” that we grow in faith.
What are you waiting for today?
What longing do you have that seems so far from even being fulfilled?
What prayers do you keep on praying that seems to never reach God’s ear?
I want to remind you that God is NOT deaf to your prayers. He is NOT blind to your constant tears, to your desires, and to your needs. If He is making you wait, there is a very good reason for it. If He is telling you “no” today, maybe it’s because He has a better “yes” waiting for you tomorrow.
Don’t look at things through your narrow lens where it seems rough and broken. Look at it from His lens and understand that the bigger picture is something you cannot even fathom. It’s an outcome you have not expected. Don’t cling to outcomes you have created. Press forward into Him, because blessed are those who trust in Him.
