When you’re in a waiting season

If you’re in a waiting season, you are certainly not alone.

When we’re in the thick of the waiting, it can seem like there is no end in sight and we may even begin to wonder if our time—the promise or the dream—will ever come.

Can I encourage you, friend, that there truly is purpose and power in waiting for the promise and that hope to become tangible and real.

In fact, the Bible shows us many times that waiting is a process that we all must go through—even Jesus did!

Read on to be encouraged by Bible verses you can save for when you need encouragement, and a reminder of God’s faithfulness, during your waiting season.

In our modern day, when things are instant or one-day Prime delivery style, waiting often feels like a ‘dirty word’. Because waiting typically feels like nothing is happening. And often it feels like we’ve been rejected or overlooked.

There’s a long lineup of people throughout the Bible who waited. Some of those we are most familiar with waited decades!

• Abraham waited 25 years before Isaac was born
• Joseph waited 13 years from his dream to the palace
• Moses waited 40 years tending sheep before the burning bush
• Jesus waited 30 years before his public ministry began.

Waiting on a promise always involves a process.

In our modern time when things are instant or one-day Prime delivery style, waiting often feels—or at least, is regarded—like a ‘dirty word’. Because waiting typically feels like nothing is happening. And often it feels like we’ve been rejected or overlooked.

“You mean I can’t have this thing I want, right this very moment?”

Have you ever felt that way, too? Gulp. I know I have!

It also feels like nothing is happening in our favour or to our advantage.

But God…

Those two, powerful words: But God — He is at work within us and all around us.

King David’s psalm reminds us of this:

Commit your way to the LORD; Trust in Him also and He will do it.
PSALM 37:5 AMP

Because while we think we’re doing a good thing by forging ahead and just getting the job done faster, we often rob ourselves of the greater He had in mind for us.

Let’s flick back to Genesis 16 to remind us of an example when we decide to help the Almighty God with His plans.

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not borne him any children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “See here, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. I am asking you to go in to [the bed of] my maid [so that she may bear you a child]; perhaps I will obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to Sarai and did as she said.
GENESIS 16:1-3 AMP

And as the story goes, Hagar did have a child. It was a messy situation, with contempt and jealousy all over the place. Hagar and Ishmael fled to the desert with no plans but to die in the wilderness, save for a rescue from God…because He is always about rescuing us, even from our own mistakes and foolish doings.

Then many years later, the promise arrives. Isaac is indeed born, in the most impossible way—to parents well beyond child-bearing ability and capacity.

But God… is at work again.

…while we think we’re doing a good thing by forging ahead and just getting the job done faster [in place of waiting on God] we often rob ourselves of the greater He had in mind for us.

Waiting on God isn’t a typical kind of waiting.

If you look up ‘waiting’ in an English dictionary, you’ll see synonyms like to stand by, sit tight, hang about, hold back, discontinue, sweat it out or, the one that gave me a good chuckle in the context of this post, to twiddle one’s thumbs.

Perhaps this is why we really, really dislike waiting. Because the very substance of this word seems negative, wouldn’t you say?

Waiting for an appointment you really want to get over with.
To wait for the next instalment of that incredible cliffhanger of a movie or novel you just finished.
To wait for exam results that may determine your life path and choices ahead.

To wait on God is not the same as this term of waiting.

To wait on God is an active expectation. In Hebrew, the active verb of waiting comes from Isaiah 40:31, and known as qavah: to wait, look for, hope and expect.

But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him]
Will gain new strength and renew their power;
They will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like eagles [rising toward the sun];
They will run and not become weary,
They will walk and not grow tired.
ISAIAH 40:31

It is fruitful and hopeful when we wait on God with a qavah waiting.

To wait on God is an active expectation. In Hebrew, the active verb of waiting comes from Isaiah 40:31, and known as qavah:
to wait, look for, hope and expect.

Throughout the Old and New Testaments, the Bible reminds us to trust in God. As a Holy Spirit-directed text, I am convinced the Lord knew we needed this reminder. We are often so prone to forget—at the very least, I am—to remember and actively trust in the Lord for all things, in all things, through everything.

So when you need a reminder, flick over to these verses in your Holy Bible and remember these trustworthy and wise sayings; they truly are the roadmap to a life lived well!

I waited patiently and expectantly for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
PSALM 40:1 AMP

Adonai is good to those waiting for him,
to those who are seeking him out.
It is good to wait patiently
for the saving help of Adonai.
LAMENTATIONS 3:35-26

Wait for and confidently expect the Lord;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for and confidently expect the Lord.
PSALM 27:14 AMP

Be encouraged, friend.

He is a covenant God who keeps every single promise He makes!