When You're Tired of Waiting

Waiting is hard.

Waiting for an answer.

Waiting for healing.

Waiting for a job.

Waiting for a relationship to change.

Waiting for a door to open.

Waiting for something you've prayed about for a long time.

Sometimes you can handle waiting for a little while.

It's when a little while becomes a long while that waiting gets difficult.

You begin asking:

How much longer?

And eventually:

God, have You forgotten about this?

Psalm 37:7 says:

“Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him…”

I think most of us like the first part.

Rest in the Lord.

It's the next part that's harder.

Wait patiently.

We don't like waiting because waiting reminds us that we're not in control.

We can pray.

We can prepare.

We can work.

We can make wise decisions.

But there are some things we simply cannot make happen.

And that's where waiting becomes a spiritual issue.

What will I do when I've done everything I know to do and nothing seems to be moving?

Will I manipulate the situation?

Will I run ahead of God?

Will I give up?

Or will I trust Him?

Isaiah 40:31 gives us one of Scripture's great promises about waiting:

“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength…”

I've always thought there is something important about the wording.

God doesn't merely give strength after the waiting is over.

He gives strength in the waiting.

Maybe you've been asking God to change your situation.

And He may.

But while you're waiting for the situation to change, God may also be strengthening you.

Waiting doesn't necessarily mean nothing is happening.

A seed can be growing underground long before anything appears above the soil.

You don't see it.

But that doesn't mean nothing is happening.

In the same way, there may be things God is doing that you cannot see yet.

There may be preparation happening.

There may be people being positioned.

There may be circumstances changing.

There may be something God is developing in you.

And sometimes the answer simply isn't ready yet.

That doesn't mean every delay is God deliberately making us wait, and we shouldn't pretend to know God's hidden reasons when Scripture hasn't told us.

But it does mean this:

A delay does not automatically mean a denial.

Galatians 6:9 says:

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

That's important.

Don't stop doing what is right just because you haven't seen the result yet.

Keep praying.

Keep working.

Keep believing.

Keep obeying.

Keep loving.

Keep serving.

Keep taking the next step.

There is another danger in waiting.

Sometimes we become so focused on what we're waiting for that we stop living the life God has already given us.

Don't put your entire life on hold while you wait for one thing to change.

There is still something God has for you today.

Someone to love.

Something to learn.

Something to do.

Something to enjoy.

Someone to encourage.

A prayer to pray.

A step to take.

Waiting for tomorrow should not cause you to miss what God has placed in today.

Maybe the question isn't only:

“God, when are You going to answer?”

Maybe another question is:

“God, what do You want me to do while I wait?”

That can change the waiting.