The Waiting Game

During my workout this morning I started thinking about all the things I seem to be waiting on. Answers to urgent emails with big questions, new opportunities in a new field, the end of certain seasons I've been walking through and so much more. I always seem to have a good idea of the solution to the things I'm waiting for, so why hasn't God made it happen yet?

As I caught myself in this dangerous line of thinking I started to look back on other things I had waited for. One of the biggest waits was for my sweet Ben. I had no idea we would meet when we did and get married not long after, and I praise God for writing that story better than I ever could! As I sat in that blessing for a moment I remembered all the nights that had sad tears instead of happy ones. I longed for marriage and strived to live in a way that would either earn or attract it faster. I hung out with the "right" people at the "right" places and dedicated this desire to prayer, so why did it seem so far from me at the time? Of course, now that is an easy question to answer. God had the perfect man in His perfect time.

Ecclesiastes is a comforting reminder that God's timing is intentional, and He sees the bigger picture when we don't.

"For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven...Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end." (Ecclesiastes 3: 1,11, NLT)

It is easy to forget God is good when He doesn't give us exactly what we want right when we want it. It sounds silly when we say it that way, huh? Yet we still struggle in the waiting! The best tactic I have learned to battle against this is to look back and remember God's faithfulness. He has always seen me through and He has always provided.

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So what are you waiting for right now? Maybe it's a relationship like I was, a longing I understand well. Maybe it's a job offer or healing or a baby. I don't know what your situation is like, and I don't need to. God knows and more than that He cares! Jeremiah 29:11 is a very well-known verse that reminds us of this, but let's look at it in the context of the scripture around it:

"This is what the Lord says: 'You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you,' says the Lord. 'They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,' says the Lord. 'I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.'" (Jeremiah 29: 10-14, NLT)

In this part of scripture, Jeremiah is writing a letter to the exiles in Babylon. Jeremiah was telling the people what the Lord had said. Notice it doesn't say that we will receive what we want when we want. God said the exiles would be in Babylon for 70 years before coming home, imagine that waiting period! But as we keep reading we see once again that God is faithful to take care of His people. He has good plans for us, better than anything we could ever come up with. Trust me.

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There have been so many times in my life when I thought "If I could just have (insert desire here) I would be so satisfied. It seems like the perfect fit!" This thought still comes up in my waiting seasons, but I can look back and see how the Lord was faithful and how He had a good purpose and protection in His timing.

Lord, thank You for operating in Your time and not mine. Remind me of this when my desires cloud my heart. May I always lay every last one down at Your feet and surrender my need to control, knowing nothing is better than trusting fully in You. May we seek and find You, and may You restore us how You please. I don't need every answer right now, only to trust in Your faithfulness which I have seen time and time again. Great is Your faithfulness to me.