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WAITING ON GOD


I remember when I was confirmed in 2013, the bible verse that was given to me was Psalm 130:5 which says; ‘I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits and in His word I put my hope’. I remember being like ermm… Okay? I was more interested in a verse like Jeremiah 29:11 or Philippians 4:13 something to “encourage” me because to be honest, nobody really likes to wait or even likes the idea of waiting for anything especially in this generation where everything is readily available. Honestly, none of us likes to wait, whether it be waiting at the doctor’s, waiting in line at the shops or waiting for something that someone has promised to give us.

Google defines waiting as the ‘action of staying where one is or delaying action until a particular time or event.


For me, being a Christian and having to wait is hard especially knowing that God is able to do anything. I love the story of Abraham in the Bible, as we all know, he and Sarah had no children and God promised him in Genesis 15 that He would give him a child. Genesis 15: 6 says: And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith. He believed in the word God had spoken concerning his situation and then the wait began.

He waited for a while yet what God had said would happen had not happened and this is where the problem is. For some of us, we don’t mind waiting for a little while, e.g. if I go to the doctors and my appointment is 5 minutes late, I don’t mind but as the time goes on I become quite frustrated and impatient. This was the case with Abraham, after waiting for a while, he became impatient and his impatience led him to go ahead of God’s plan and make things happen his own way by getting Hagar pregnant which brought a whole lot of problems for his household and even affected the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael.


The worst thing we can do is to become impatient and go ahead of God and make things happen on our own. It will only bring heartache, confusion and further frustration. God knows what He is doing and sometimes He makes us wait because we are not ready to handle whatever it is that we are asking for. Some time ago, a book club I am part of studied a book called ‘Rooted’ by Banning Liebscher (check it out, it’s a great book). One of the things I learnt is the importance of allowing God to strengthen and build up our roots. Just like when building a house, if the foundation is not strong it will not be able to sustain the structure when it is built and the whole thing might come tumbling down sooner or later. In the same way sometimes we are not ready to handle the things we are asking God for, so He uses our waiting time to strengthen us, build up our character and teach us so that when He does bring what we are asking for, we can handle it and it will be sustained, not misused or damaged by our lack of ‘foundation/root’.

We all have something we are trusting God for. It could be for healing, a spouse, children, financial breakthrough, success in our academics or ministry work among other things. Whatever it is, the waiting process is not an easy one and it is very easy to become discouraged, impatient and disheartened to the point that we think God has abandoned us but as He says in Isaiah 41:10; Fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God, I will strengthen you and help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

You may be frustrated, growing weary and losing faith but I want to encourage you with a few things.


1) Trust in the Sovereignty and power of God.

If He is making you wait for something then there is a good reason. His plan is always best, whether we see it or not. We cannot know God’s ways or thoughts, all we can do is trust that He knows what He is doing.

Isaiah 55:8-9

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, declares the Lord

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.


2) Hold on to His word.

This is where my confirmation verse comes in. God is not a man that He should lie, He never goes back on His word. Therefore when things seem to be delaying focus on the word God has given to you. Hold on to who He is and what He has said.


3) Stay close to God.

When waiting for God, we are not to just sit and do nothing, we are to press in, keep praying and studying the word because you never know when God is going to speak and maybe give you some direction. Sometimes when we are discouraged, we tend to move away from God and my question is; you are moving away from the one who can help and has all the answers to go where?


4) Look back.

It’s not always a good thing to look back, look at Lots wife. But sometimes we have to look back on the things that God has done for us and those around us in the past. By dwelling on the faithfulness, love and favour of God, we are encouraged that if He has come through before, He will do so again.


5) Be expectant.

We should wait with expectation that God is going to do it, however He may not do it the way we are expecting Him to do it.


Psalm 27:14

Wait for and confidently expect the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for and confidently expect the Lord.


God bless you x

Caris.

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