Waiting Well (Daily Refresh, 6-10-26)

Waiting can be hard. 

Most of us would prefer quick, efficient, and—when possible—instant results and answers. 

But waiting is a part of life. 

We must wait for seeds to grow into food, for one season to fade into the next, for babies to mature into adults, and for trees to stand tall enough to finally offer shade.

Like it or not, waiting takes patience.

We can wait days, months, years, or even decades for a prayer to be answered, for an overdue apology, for the timing to be right, or for a dream to finally come to pass.

Waiting requires courage.

King David lived nearly 3,000 years ago, but he knew what it meant to wait for God’s timing, to wait to be king, to wait to be rescued from his enemies. He wrote:

“Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭27:14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

If David thought waiting on God was important enough to write it twice in one verse, we should probably pay attention. But waiting patiently for the Lord isn’t an excuse to do nothing. 

We can proactively wait on God by staying in communication with Him, by looking for His fingerprints in ordinary moments, by reading about His story and His plans in His Word, by worshiping Him no matter what’s happening across the globe, by serving the people both inside and outside of our circles, and by thanking Him for the gifts He’s already given us.

Just because a specific door isn’t opening, or a particular opportunity isn’t available at this moment doesn’t mean that God isn’t moving.

Even when we are waiting—God is working. 

Noah spent decades building an ark as he waited for God to do what He’d said. Ruth journeyed with her mother-in-law and worked in the grain fields while trusting in God’s provision after her husband’s death. Joseph stayed faithful in prison for several years before his promotion to second-in-command of Egypt. John trusted God’s ultimate will for his life, and wrote several books of the New Testament while sentenced to exile on the island of Patmos. 

So, no matter what you’re facing today, you can ask God for patience and trust that He is in control of your future. No matter what uncertainty lies before you, when you rely on the Lord, you can be someone who waits well.

My Thoughts

I will be honest and confess here that I don’t wait well. I don’t necessarily expect instant answers from God, but I don’t like saying the same prayers over and over and not really seeing any change. Two examples come to mind immediately: my health issues and a job for our grandson Isaac.

I pray for my health. Others join me in prayer. Yet, I don’t improve. Or not yet, anyway. I saw my pulmonologist yesterday and she said that the steroids I am taking should have kicked in and I should be breathing better, but I’m not. So, what to do? More steroids at a higher dose. Back to waiting with the added prayer that the meds will work or God will just take over and release my breath.

I pray for Isaac daily, sometimes several times a day. He graduated last year with a degree in computer science and mathematics. The economy has been in a mess because of the government delays on passing a budget, so that caused waiting. Now, it seems that AI is interfering with Isaac’s ability to get a job since AI can do a lot of what he is trained to do. Isaac is discouraged but still plugging away with applications and an interview occasionally. I try to encourage him about waiting for the job that God wants Him to have, but inside, I am having difficulty waiting myself. I am frustrated that this sweet grandson who has had surgery for cancer, has to have scans every few months because it’s so aggressive, and now he has problems finding a job. God keeps whispering to me, “In my time.” Yet I continue to ask, “When, God?”

So, waiting is hard, but it is necessary. I love the paragraph in this devotional about being proactive while you wait. I put that part in bold, so go back and read again what we should be doing while we wait. Most important to me is communication with God, continuing to worship and being thankful.

God is good all the time… and He is not on my timetable. So, I wait and pray.

Are you waiting on something from God? How can I pray for you today?