The Pain of Waiting on God: No One Wants To
It’s true. The pain of waiting on God involves years passing by and nothing happens. Or so it seems. While I wait, I change my perspective on small not larger God-sized goals and rejoice in little victories. Whatever divine directions God shares with you, they’re plans meant exclusively for you.
So, find a cozy place for getting comfortable and waiting patiently on God.
We all know that changes take a while.
For instance, you wait for a spouse, a change in finances, or pray for a loved one to live for eternity in heaven. Some of us hear God say to move halfway around the world or just down the street. Others start businesses and invent products to help people. Many step up to the plate and become the heart and soul of an operation so someone else succeeds.
The God kind of dreams He puts inside Christians means taking little steps to finally live the destiny tailor-made for you. Until you get there, there’s work to do even when life seems on hold.
The Pain of Waiting on God: Create a Bucket List
God speaks a dream into your heart and then doesn’t tell you the next steps. How do you wait on God, then?
You become an active participant while you wait. Believe me, it’s much easier than trying to fight God, every day, hoping He hurries up! You have bills to pay, so work fruitfully until this specific season of waiting is over. More seasons keep coming!
Here’s an example of how to wait productively.
If you plan to move to a different country, take an online course to learn the language prior to leaving. How about getting your pilot’s license until the worldwide ministry God promised you literally takes off.
Maybe your dream is to open a children’s public preschool. That’s the perfect opportunity to open a daycare center in your home. Children can dish out scenarios you’ve never thought about to prepare you for God’s bigger vision.
The Pain of Waiting on God: He Doesn’t Use Your Timetable
Spinning your wheels digs you deeper into a dark pit—similar to the one Joseph’s brothers threw him into. Joseph was definitely destined for greatness and traveled unusual routes to become the second in command under Pharaoh. Joseph didn’t choose a rebellious path when his life sucked. If he had, he would have missed God’s awesome plans.
Instead, he endured hardship, abuse, and lies. He eventually rose to the top, like cream does when churning milk to make butter. He excelled at everything he did and rested spiritually, not physically for 13 years by trusting God to turn around what his brothers meant for evil into good.
What To Do While Waiting on God: Control Your Feelings
Fear, anxiety, and stress buddy up when life seems to stagnate. You may feel anger, doubt, and woe-is-me feelings. As you wait, it feels like you wander in a wilderness or grope for a light switch to find your way. Life is scary when you have promises and no answers.
Learn to dismiss thoughts that undermine the dream God puts in your heart. Just so you know, more happens spiritually in the wilderness and valleys than on mountaintops, anyway.
The high places are nice but you always come back to where God teaches—places where you seek Him.
When adversity comes, you discover your character. You find out you aren’t alone and dig deep. Other Christians wait too. God hears your cries and at just the right time He bolsters you up with grace, encouragement, and a stronger belief in His promises.
As you know, fretting makes life seem worse than it is. To counteract that behavior, I carry feelings of expectancy—that something is about to happen. It’s the same feeling a mother has when pregnant and waiting 9 long months to hold her baby. Everyone sees she’s expecting, but they can’t see her planning every moment with her precious child.
Waiting Patiently on God
Unfortunately, most people give up before walking in the dreams God gave them because waiting is too hard. They leap ahead and make something happen on their own. While you wait, let patience have its way and never run ahead of God.
As you wait, don’t expect people to take up the slack and cheer you on. Loved ones and friends don’t understand why you wait and what for. They may speak discouraging rather than uplifting words. They don’t have the inside track with God that you do on the matter. So really— why should they understand? Misplaced trust and hope in people can shatter your vision and cause discouragement.
The Pain of Waiting on God Involves Passing the Happiness Test
While in the how-to-wait-on-God mode, here’s a test to determine your progress. I’ve failed it several times.
If you aren’t happy now—while you wait for your dream to begin—you won’t be happy when the dream becomes a reality. Sorry folks—to hear the truth is hard.
Paul and Silas understood that principle when in jail. They lifted up what could have been downcast spirits by singing joyous songs of praise. With chained appendages and open wounds from beatings, they had no hope of release. Yet, they sang.
Most Christians identify with Paul and Silas because they long for heaven as the earth is not their home. They want to arrive and hear, “Well done.” So as difficult as it seems, let’s embrace the pain of waiting on God and be happy about it.
While you wait, you can rejoice with others on the cusp of seeing God’s plans come to life. Don’t give up hope—you’re probably closer than you think for God’s promises to come to pass. Also, don’t twiddle your thumbs! Engage with life while waiting rather than mark time to pass.