How Long Should We Wait?
I think each and every one of us has waited for something from God at some point in our lives. A house. A new job. A spouse. A child. A financial breakthrough. Healing. Justice. Whatever it is, the waiting can be tough. During my time of waiting, which I’m still currently in about many different things, it’s easy to slip into a negative mind-set. How long will this last? Will it ever end? When will God come through? Is this what my life is destined to be like? All those negative thoughts consume you and when you fall down that muddy pit, it’s extremely hard to climb and claw your way out.
The fact is that the waiting period is different for everyone. Noah had to wait for the floods to come and when they did, he then had to wait for them to clear and recede. Joseph waited for years as a slave, and then was thrown into a prison. It was even years after that, before he reunited with his family like he’d waited so long to do. Jonah only had to wait three days, but then again, it was three days inside the belly of a great fish. Then God made him watch as his enemies were blessed and sparred. I know for me, that would have been very hard to swallow. Sarah waited for a child and then God finally blessed her with Isaac.
The Bible is filled with all kinds of examples of waiting, a period in which we all have to come through. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…” Psalm 23 states. That valley is the waiting period, the low period and we all have to face it. But listen to what the Psalm continues to say. “I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”
God is with us, even in our waiting period. I know sometimes, waiting can make you feel like you’re distant from God. It’s written tons of times, wait upon the Lord and pray continuously. Continue to pray, continue to rejoice in Him and thank Him for what He has done for you, instead of looking at what you’re waiting for. I know I need to do this more often. How many of you out there need to as well?
Are you waiting? Are you praying and thanking Him? Do you find it difficult, like I do? Remember this: Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They shall walk and not faint—Isaiah 40:31.
Don’t let that dark valley of waiting pull you into the muddy pit. Instead, look to God’s light shining down upon you, ready to bless you in the proper timing.
