Embracing trust, grace and beauty in the waiting season

4 min read

For a couple of months now, I’ve been reminded during my Bible reading of “appointed times”. 

I was thinking the April Inbox Sunshine email edition would be the month to share on this theme with a wallpaper to match. But, as it turned out, it wasn’t the time for it (how’s that for the message holding true, even in this?!).

So I’ve held onto it until the Lord said, “Ok, now.”

And isn’t that the wondrous way that He works in everyday life, too?

We can have good plans. But He has better plans! And I find that more often than not, they are never to our timeline.

Even still, His plans are always perfect. 

Because He always takes into consideration everything we don’t take into consideration.  His plans and His way always have ‘more in mind’. Our plans too often skew for ‘more of me in mind’.

That’s why He is so trustworthy! 

He is always good, always doing good. And He has nothing but good in mind for you, me, AND all those He has the utmost devotion for. 

Divine Timing Throughout Scripture

I’m reminded of Noah, Abraham, Joseph, David, and so many more who received messages, prophecy, or visions. Yet the appointed time for each of those was set for a later date. They all involved a waiting season.

From 553 BC, Daniel was the witness and keeper of visions that all had appointed times set by God (Daniel 8:19). Some of those are still yet to happen beyond 2025 and won’t be completed until Jesus returns.

Scripture reveals that the Lord sets events for certain seasons and also situates people according to His perfect plan and will.

‘Then the Lord replied:
“Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.
For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false.”’

Habakkuk 2:2-3

Even Jesus came into the world at just the right time—to proclaim and secure salvation for all mankind, for all time (Romans 5:6; Galatians 4:4)

The Holy Spirit was also poured out at just the right time for the Good News to go out to all nations (Acts 2:1-4; Acts 2:14-21).

Finding Peace in the Waiting Season

So, how do we play our part in the holding seasons that await an appointed time (Ecclesiastes 3:11)? 

We can look to the Scriptures!

It holds the key for the journey: the beginning, the messy middle, and when it’s still again, a waiting, hoping season. 

1. The Beginning: plunging all in, to trust Him

Apostle Paul reminds us that Abraham plunged all in, to trust God at His word. Abraham believed the Lord would do exactly as He said (Romans 4:19-25 MSG). 

Consider this, though: Abraham waited 25 years from promise to parenthood with Sarah.

He finally held Isaac in his arms at the age of 100.

That’s a lot of replunging into God’s promise over the decades! Because the everyday reality of plunging in is that we often resurface. And as we resurface, the tendency is to take a quick look at our surroundings. 

It’s in this looking around at the surface level that we are prone to see others in their own journey. And it can sometimes lead us to think, “Well, nothing much seems to be happening for me right now.” 

For this reason, we need to take a leaf from Abraham’s pages: keep plunging (and re-plunging!) deep into the Promise Keeper and His Word. 

As He faithfully tends to you, keep tending your trust in Him.

2. The Messy Middle: leaning into His rhythms of grace

When it seems like you’ve been swimming and swimming, most days may not feel as peppy as that loveable blue fish who said to “just keep swimming”. 

Swimming against the tide is exhausting. It’s not only physical exhaustion. It can also be mentally and emotionally taxing. 

Our spirit was designed to move with His rhythms of grace (Matthew 11:28-30 MSG). It’s that “freely and lightly” rhythm He has in mind for us. And it cannot come from our own striving or strategizing (no matter how good our strategies may be). 

Leaning into His rhythms of grace means riding on the tides directed by Him.

Because we will always get there when we go with His flow.

But when we charter our own course, it’s always more draining. And the result is far less than what He has set apart for us for an appointed time. (Remember, Ishmael was “the strategy”, but Isaac was “the blessing”. And how vastly they differed!)

3. Still waiting and hoping: looking for His beauty

Messy middles can often blur into long endings. Long endings can still feel like the middle, and may feel like nothing much has changed. But when we continue to trust and go with His grace, the greatest change has been well beneath the surface. It’s the deep soul work He has done within you!

It may look little to the external eye. But in His eyes, it is significant!

In this ‘still waiting and hoping’ season, it’s critical to look to Him. To be with Him. To be found clinging to His Word. In doing so, we are awakened to the beauty He has set all around us. (Psalm 27:4) 

Yes, even in the waiting season, there is beauty He has prepared for you. 

It’s amazing that what we may see as barren, He sees as a field of flourishing, because He sees beginning to end.

Embracing His Perfect Timing

So continue to keep trusting, friend.

Lean into His grace.
Look at His beauty.
And look for His beauty all around you. 

One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord.

PSALM 27:4 NIV