Nov 27, 2019
By Sarina Gumness
There is a time we all dread, the waiting period. We know God is going to answer our prayers, but then there’s the period of waiting for it to come. The period of time that we dread and are confused.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” —Romans 8:28
I am in the waiting period. I am struggling through it. Something that I have learned is that you can’t focus on the situation. What we need to do is look at the situation through God’s eyes knowing this is something way bigger than us. We must know that everything works together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose. You need to find comfort in knowing that once you come through your
situation you will be a victor and you will be shifting to the next level spiritually, mentally, and physically. Know that God will never allow you to go through more than you can bear. Most importantly, God loves you.
When I am going through something, I like to research it and then write an article about it. This is my own journal which I decide to share once a month. In my research I found five reasons that God makes us wait.
1. Waiting Reveals Our True Motives. People who don’t have good motives won’t wait long because they’re not interested in the commitment it takes to see something through. God is testing our true intentions when we are waiting for something. Even though He knows all our intentions, He wants us to know our own intentions.
2. Waiting Builds Patience in Our Lives. Patience in waiting for small things leads to having patience in the bigger things. If we can’t wait for God to do a small thing, we certainly can’t wait for something bigger.
3. Waiting Builds Anticipation. We tend to appreciate things the longer we have to wait for them.
4. Waiting Transforms Our Character. Waiting has a way of rubbing off the rough edges of our lives. We see this example in the story of Moses delivering the Israelites from the Egyptians. It’s a grand story of God doing great miracles. But few sermons talk about Moses having to wait in the desert 40 years before God came to him. God used this time of waiting to transform his character. We know this because when he was a young man he was brash and impatient. In his impetuousness he killed a man and hid the body. When his sin was made public, he ran for his life and was exiled to the desert. When he was given a second chance he opted to do it God’s way and in God’s time. In the end, the Israelites were delivered from slavery and Moses became a great leader. Waiting transformed the life of Moses and it does the same for you and me.
5. Waiting Builds Intimacy and Dependency Upon God. Waiting during the difficult times developed their relationship with God. Some of the most intimate relationships we have in our lives are because a friend stood in the trenches with us during the heat of the battle. Maybe this is what the scripture means when it says we have a friend that sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24).
In the end, God is just as interested in the journey as He is the destination.
