“Hurry Up … and Wait” was a common happening at training camp. Often life is also like this. You hurry to finish something so you will be ready for the next thing but it is not time yet. Since I am in a season of waiting for this trip to start, I have been thinking about this lately. I am so excited for it to start than it is hard to wait.
You could be waiting: to go on a trip; to meet the person that you will marry; to see if that relationship you are involved in will blossom to marriage; for a baby to bless your future; to buy a house; for a job opportunity (preferably in something you are excited about doing); for health issues to be healed. If you are like me, you do not like to wait, especially for an undetermined length of time. Seasons of waiting produce doubt that God is listening or even there.
Through some of my own seasons of waiting, I have realized that God’s timing is best. I was not ready for God to fulfill that request yet (mine were a trip, meeting the person I will marry, buying a house, job opportunities, and health) even though I thought I was. God has used these times of waiting for me to trust in Him even though I can not see the result yet.
How do you trust in God if you don’t believe in Him? That is a hard question. I can only tell you from my experience that I trusted in Him to get me through these periods and He did. You will need to test Him (by reading the Bible- start with Luke or John) on your own to find out if He is real. What are you risking by testing Him?
I think of children who jump off a swing or tree and say “catch me” to an adult they trust. They have no fear that they will be dropped. They know that person they trust will do everything they can to be there for them. God is the same way. We often are in our own little world and need Him to “catch us” from whatever we are involved in. I also think of children who are tired and just want to be held. God will also be there to carry us through the hard times (when we are in a season of waiting or pain).
While in a season of waiting, what should we do? Like Abraham (waiting for a child) or David (waiting for a job opportunity), we need to wait with hope. We need to trust God that it will happen. That does not mean that we should stop trying, but it means that we need to do things to get us ready for that blessing.
I am still in a season of waiting. I have yet to meet the person I will marry but I trust God that it will happen. I would not have been ready if it would have happened before. God is still working on me (I am a work in progress) so when it does happen, I will be. I do not think He gives us lifelong desires in our hearts that He will not fulfill.
