Check out the featured post and read more here: https://www.ibelieve.com/christian-living/how-to-wait-on-god-when-life-feels-stuck.html
From toddlers to pre-teens, teens, young adults, adults, and elders, we all have something in common: we all experience waiting seasons on this side of Heaven. From unanswered prayers to grocery store lines, drive-through waits, or diagnosis results, there’s a common frustration that comes with waiting. I don’t think anyone really enjoys it. But what the Bible says about waiting on God might just surprise you. How can we learn to wait on God when life feels stuck?
Why Waiting Feels So Hard
As human beings, we find waiting hard because we desire control. That six-letter word holds much power over those who struggle to find it. We fear missing out, we dread uncertainty, and our anxiety rises.
But waiting also feels hard because we live in a culture that operates much faster than it was ever intended to. According to Psychology Today, the Agony of Waiting results when we combine two challenging states of mind: Not knowing what’s next, and not being able to do much about it. This lack of control is what Medium says irks our perception of time. Pair that with uncertainty, impatience, and equity, and you’ve got an unhappy person. And we aren’t the only ones.
In the Scriptures, many forefathers didn’t like waiting either. When God’s promise didn’t come quickly enough, Sarah and Abraham took matters into their own hands.
“Sarai was Abram’s wife, but she did not have any children. She had an Egyptian slave named Hagar. Sarai told Abram, “The Lord has not allowed me to have children, so sleep with my slave. Maybe she can have a son, and I will accept him as my own.” Abram did what Sarai said. So after living ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai gave her Egyptian slave to Abram as a second wife (Genesis 16:1-3, NIV).”
When King Saul was frustrated with Samuel, his impatience cost him his dynasty.
“Saul waited for Samuel for seven days, the amount of time he had been told by Samuel to wait. But the prophet did not come to Gilgal, and the people began to slip away. A few more days and Saul would have no army left, so he decided to take matters into his own hands” (1 Samuel 13:8, The Voice).
Even King David gave in to impulse with Bathsheba rather than asking the Lord what to do.
“Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. 3 He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite” (2 Samuel 11:2-3, NLT).
On the flip side, however, many figures waited well. Joseph had a bright future, but had to endure suffering and hardship before he would receive what he’d been promised.
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20, NIV).
Job lost everything and still waited on God to redeem him.
“Then Job replied to the Lord: I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know” (Job 42:1-3, NIV).
Anna the Prophetess was a widow, but was confident she’d see the Lord before she died (and she did).
“Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem” (Luke 236-38, NLT).
In each of these examples, the waiting wasn’t easy, but we can see that it wasn’t wasted. We may not understand it in the moment, but God’s preparation is always a process.
From Abraham to Joseph or David, growth happens in hidden seasons. Uncomfortable places. Spaces we’d rather skip altogether. But learning to wait well is a process.
In his article, Learning to Wait Well, author and pastor Bob Kauflin explains waiting as a source of surprising praise:
“Our joy and gladness come from our Lord more than from specific answers to our prayers. Because we love his salvation and experience his goodness again and again as a result of it. He is always writing new chapters, new stories, giving us fresh reasons to declare his steadfast love and faithfulness. And as we wait through trials in a God-honoring way, rejoicing and praising through the pain and heartache, those around us learn more about the God who is righteous, merciful, and good.”