It could be that your wait is less about you and more about a person God has placed in your path.
Ever since I was a little girl, I have not liked doctor’s offices. There wasn’t a reason for this aversion since I wasn’t a sickly child and can’t really remember any bad experiences as a young child at the doctor. Yet I can recall with great detail what the building looked like outside, the two steps going down into the waiting room, the fish tank where I sat and watched the fish and listened to the bubbles of the filter, the antiseptic smell of the doctor’s office, the white, crisp nurse’s uniform and hat that Julia, the doctor’s nurse, wore. I remember the sound of the white paper on the bed crinkling as I sat on it, the feel of the mercury thermometer in my mouth, and every detail of the exam room. None of these memories are bad, yet they evoke a feeling of anxiety.
Fast forward to doctor’s visits today, as a senior, which brings a whole other realm of possibility to an exam. As much as I try to calm myself in the waiting room, I just can’t seem to do it. When I finally get into the exam room, the waiting is torturous. I just want to get the exam over already.
Seasons of waiting come as a result of many different circumstances. Waiting to hear that a child has been born, waiting when a loved one is close to dying, waiting to hear whether or not you got the job, waiting for a loved one to come home from a long time away, waiting for a custody battle to end, or any number of reasons you can think of is hard. I wonder if it’s because we know there will be big emotions after the waiting is over. We want to deal with those emotions, not wait in anticipation of what they will be like and whether we can handle them.
There are times of waiting that seem unfair. We don’t understand the why behind the wait and can feel forgotten. Joseph certainly experienced waiting that seemed unfair, beginning with his brothers throwing him into the cistern, then being taken into captivity, thrown into prison, and especially when he interpreted the cupbearer’s dream and asked him to tell Pharoah about it, yet the cupbearer didn’t remember Joseph for two years!
Several questions come to mind when considering Joseph’s story of waiting, knowing the ending where he was released and ruled over Egypt during the great famine. Was God preparing Joseph for this ultimate position of leadership? Was Joseph placed in those areas of waiting in order to serve a purpose for God in them? Or did God have a plan that needed time to play out in order for all the pieces and players to fall into place?
I think the answers to these questions could help answer the “whys” to our own seasons of waiting.
Let’s break it down:
God’s Ultimate Purpose for Your Life
"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do". Ephesians 2:10
As believers, we are all part of the Body of Christ, and within that body, we serve a particular purpose that God prepared for us before the worlds began. We each have specific Kingdom work to do here on earth. Yet we weren’t born with a job description manual that tells us what our unique God-given “purpose” is. Certainly the Bible is a “manual” for living a life that honors God, but there aren’t verses that list out every Christian’s name with their individual purpose.
So how does the Lord move in us to walk in our God-ordained purpose? He uses waiting seasons. When my daughter moved to California, it was a very hard transition for me as it is for any parent when their child moves out and the empty nest years begin. She was going to be there for two years… During that time of waiting and it being a more quiet season, I was able to immerse myself in the Bible and spend A LOT of time with the Lord. It was during that time of waiting that God placed a desire within me to be a women’s ministry leader. Through a series of random events that weren’t so random in God’s economy, I ended up being asked to co-lead a women’s Bible study and was then asked to be a mentor at Mothers of Preschoolers. I am now a pastor’s wife and women’s ministry leader at our church. I believe God used that time of waiting, however painful it was, to put me in a position to fulfill His ultimate purpose for my life.
The next time you are in a season of waiting, listen for God’s still, small voice. He may be leading you to His ultimate purpose for your life.
Bloom Where You’re Planted
"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31
The Westminster Shorter Catechism says “The chief end of man is to glorify God.” The verse cited above reminds us that this means we do ALL for the glory of God, not just when things are going well for us.
I don’t think I’m alone in this, but when I’m in a season of waiting, especially if it is a difficult one, I can be almost paralyzed, not having the motivation to do anything, too consumed in the wait. My mind is focused solely on self. Yet we are called to shine the light of Christ no matter what the season, to essentially bloom where we’re planted, even in the wait.
How do we do this? By drawing our strength from the Lord. We trust Him with the outcome of our waiting. Spend time in the Word and in prayer. Ask Him to show you how you can “bloom where you’re planted” while you wait. It could be that the Lord is going to use your waiting season to bring forth a bouquet of light to someone else who needs it. It could be that your wait is less about you and more about a person God has placed in your path.
The next time you feel that waiting is a heavy burden to carry, like the seeds planted deep in the soil, push through toward the light of the Lord, and He will work through you to bloom and bless another. When we bless others, we are filled with joy and our waiting will not have been in vain.
God’s Plan Involves You
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11
God is not sitting in heaven like a sinister puppet master, stringing us along for His entertainment. He created us in Christ Jesus, died for us, and loves us with an everlasting love. We need to remember that when we find ourselves in a season of waiting, especially the difficult ones. Some may wait for years, like Joseph, before they have any idea what God’s plan is. Others may never see the plan fulfilled like the Hebrews Hall of Faith, yet they all still had faith that God’s plan was the best plan. But what we can know is that even in the waiting, God plans to prosper us, keep us safe, and to give us a future and a hope.
There are seasons of waiting that are part of a bigger picture involving not just you, but lots of characters. The Lord is working in each one of those people’s lives just like He is working in yours to bring His plan to completion, whatever that might be. It could be that while you are waiting, circumstances are also falling into place that are all part of His plan.
If you find yourself in a waiting season, renew your mind with an eternal perspective, one that trusts the Lord’s plans and remembers that they are always good. What an honor it is that God is entrusting you to be part of a bigger plan. Not only will you grow in your faith as a result, but you may be contributing to the growth and salvation of another.
If you think about it, we are all in the most incredible waiting season of all. Waiting for the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In the meantime, let’s be reflective in all of our waiting seasons, remembering that they are all part of the ultimate wait. May we not waste a moment wallowing in the wait, but living to our fullest potential in Christ Jesus.
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