How Are You Waiting?
As I write this reach I am waiting. I’m waiting for the bread to come out of the oven. I’m waiting for my kids to fall asleep in their beds for the night. I’m waiting for my husband to finish a project and take the seat beside me. I’m waiting for my thoughts to settle and for the words to fall in place as God would want them. The funny thing is, once we are done waiting on one thing something else steps in line and we begin waiting again.
Waiting is hard. Sometimes we can predict how long we will have to wait but often times, the length of the waiting period is unknown. This pocket in time, the waters of waiting that flow between now and then are vital because it’s in the waiting we are tested. In the waiting we are pressed. In the waiting we can grow or we can crumble. In the waiting we can either inspire or cause others to stumble. In the waiting we are being watched by God and by others.
In the Bible we read of several people who had to wait, and it was in the waiting we learn a great deal about not only their character, but about their faith in God.
Genesis 6:13 | Noah waited over a year for God to bring forth dry land after flooding the entire earth.
Genesis 20:1–7 | Abraham and Sarah waited several years to have a child.
Genesis 29:20 | Jacob waited 14 years to marry his beloved Rachel.
Genesis 37:25 | Joseph waited 13 years for his sufferings to be redeemed after being sold into slavery by his brothers.
Exodus 15:22 | Moses waited 40 years in the desert with the Israelites.
1 Samuel 17 | David waited in the fields as a shepherd until God called him to become a warrior.
Each of these stories, and I do encourage you to read each one, shows how different people had to wait for different reasons and for different lengths of time. These stories also shed light on how these individuals chose to wait despite their circumstances.
Each of these people faced hardship in the waiting but ultimately chose to trust God with where they were and for however long He would have them remain there. And just as our beloved Lord would have it, He remained with them, where they were, as they waited, for the entirety of the time He had them wait. And God waits with you. So take a deep breath and let this truth sink in.
As you wait, He is with you.
The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.
Deuteronomy 31:8
But my friend we also need to realize that as we are waiting, darkness is also watching. Darkness knows you are waiting…darkness doesn’t know how long you will be waiting but it doesn’t care about that. Its goal is to cause you to fumble in your faith and cause others to stumble beside you. We are meant to live as people who belong to the light as described so beautifully in Ephesians 5:8-9, “You yourselves used to be in the darkness, but since you have become the Lord's people, you are in the light. So you must live like people who belong to the light, for it is the light that brings a rich harvest of every kind of goodness, righteousness, and truth.”
Darkness wants to make the light we carry flicker, after all the flicker indicates a weak source and people are less likely to trust weakness. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, his powerful and pure light enters in us. How we carry that light, how we place our faith in God, determines whether people see a flicker or a flame. Likewise, our behavior is like a lamp shade, it will either make the light in us harder to see or give way for light to fill the room around us. How we carry ourselves and treat those around us, especially in seasons of waiting, can be a good indicator of where we stand in our relationship with God and the faith we claim to posses.
When you’re in a season of waiting and the world is pressing in, frustrations mounting, anxiety knocking, anger growing - do you lash out? Moses did. In Numbers Moses found himself once again surrounded by angry Israelites who wanted water. After nearly 40 years of wandering in the desert Moses had had enough and showed his frustration with the people by yelling and then striking the rock which brought forth water for the people.
Now God had assured Moses He would provide water for His people, but Moses allowed his mounting frustration to get the better of him and unfortunately it cost him entry into the Promised Land. Some may read this story and find it harsh for Moses to be denied the Promised Land after one mistake…after all the Israelites were the ones who pushed him to this breaking point. But by Moses lashing out, he dishonored God and displayed a posture that mirrored the grumbling Israelites. God actually gives the reason why Moses won't enter the promised land in Deuteronomy 32:51, "...because you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites..."
Moses fumbled and could have caused others to stumble. God takes this very serious and wants us to as well.
Before me move on, I believe it is worth noting... did God leave Moses alone in the desert while the Israelites entered the Promised Land? No, God brought Moses home to Him. Even though Moses messed up, God didn’t leave him alone, He drew Moses closer to Him.
Now fast forward in your Bible a few books…in 1 Samuel we learn of a young boy named David who like Moses was a man after God’s own heart. Many know the story of David and Goliath where a young shepherd boy brings down a giant using merely a sling and a stone. Moments before David approached Goliath, Saul tried to put his own armor on David in preparation for battle but David refuses to wear any of it since the armor didn’t fit his smaller frame. We learn in 1 Samuel 17:40 what David did choose to pick up instead…
Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
In your waiting, are you striking stones or gathering them?
Are you striking stones as Moses did in frustration… costing him entry into the promised land? Or are you gathering stones like David before a howling Goliath?
When we allow our frustrations and flesh tendencies to do the reacting for us…we often miss what God is wanting us to see or face. David left what he didn’t need to carry and then strategically chose the stones needed to bring down the giant. David did not lash out or allow the bellowing of a beast give birth to anxiety in himself. He stood firm, leaning into God, well aware of what was at stake if he didn’t.
The people watching David had to have been shocked when he refused the armor and chose a wooden staff, a sling and five stones. Likewise, the world and those around you will often times be leaning in and trying to hand you what you do not need in seasons of waiting. These distractions, like oversized armor, will get in the way of what God is wanting you to see, feel and ultimately how He will want you to move forward when the time has come.
The world will often times deem frustrated and impatient reactions as justifiable, and if you want to live by the way of the world then you can go ahead and justify. But to those who wish to respond to a higher calling, we need to stop listing the reasons why and start laying down what we no longer need to carry so we can better hold what God is handing us. We are light bearers.
God has handed us the light of the world, His one and only son, so that we can shine this light to a world living in darkness. As we wait for so much in this life…big things and small…let us remember to lay down what we do not need so we are better able to hold the light we are meant to carry and carry it well. And our Father who not only goes before us, will also stand beside us while we wait…it is our choice whether or not we lean in to Him.
“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint”
Isaiah 40:31
