Read Time 5 Minutes
“Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!” Psalm 27:14
Oh to wait…it’s one of the hardest things to do! I think it is often so hard because we think in our minds that we know just what we need and just what the answer should be in any particular moment or time period. We think we know because it is based on our extreme focus on our own emotion. We forget that our judgement might be clouded by emotion. We also do not have the bigger picture…we might think we do, but we only have what is visible right in front of our eyes. As a Christian, we can remember that we are blessed beyond measure to know the One who always has the big picture and who will always do what is the absolute best for us if we can just “hold our horses” and wait for Him!
There is mystery in the waiting when we rely on God. Mystery can be exciting! We don’t know how our events will unfold or when or what the end result will be, but when we are trusting Him, we can be confident that it is just that…mystery and not uncertainty. What you can be certain of is that God will reveal himself to you in special ways, He will bless you along the way, He will give you strength to endure, and He will grow you in ways that you do not anticipate. How He accomplishes this for each one of us is as unique to our lives as we are each perfectly and individually created by Him. Therefore, we can begin to find joy in the mystery of waiting and trusting God with our path and the outcome of our situation.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6
While in a waiting period, there is much we can do to enhance our our lives and shift our focus from our uncomfortable situation to healthy productivity. Here are some suggestions:
- Pray without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) Let God know your heart and your petition. (Philippians 4: 6-7) Let your prayer life grow and blossom as you also read His word and listen for His voice.
- Read God’s promises, memorize His promises, and trust in His promises.
- Get creative and use the gifts and talents that you have been blessed with to make a difference in your time of waiting.
- Be active and exercise. I’m not saying this simply because I am a personal trainer. It is true that exercise is healthy not just for your body, but for your mind and emotions too!
When I am getting weary and frustrated in the waiting, I sometimes think about some brave men who had to endure one of the toughest periods of waiting. These men were POWs during the Vietnam war. Read the following excerpts from a lecture given by Navy Captain Gerald Coffee (who lived in a 3 X 6.5 foot cell for 7 years), and see how even in the most extreme of circumstances there is much one can do to stay strong, have peace, and be victorious in perseverance:
“I prayed a lot,” Coffee said. “At first I expected God to do everything for me, but when I realized that this would be my life for a while, the nature of my prayers started to change. Instead of praying, ‘Why me?’ I started to pray, ‘How can I change?’”
“I used to walk miles inside my cell, just shuffling back and forth,” Coffee said. “I also used my bed for both push-ups and sit ups. It was important for me to continue exercising because I didn’t know when I was going to be released.”
“You would think that with nothing to do, your mind would become unused, but the opposite happened.” Coffee said. “The other prisoners and I found anything and everything to talk about. We picked each other’s brains for all our information, which included memorizing and composing poems.”
“There was this one guy who was chained to his bed and had his arms locked behind him,” he said. “Every night the other prisoners and I would tap on his walls ‘G B,’ which mainly meant ‘God bless,’ but also meant, ‘I’m praying for you. Hold on in there. We are with you.”
“All those years, the Vietnamese tried to rape our spirits and our faith, but they couldn’t do it,” he said. “I was never really alone in that cell. Not with Him by my side.”
Sometimes we have no choice but to wait. At other times, we may have the ability to make a decision to change our course. In those cases we must be careful not to act on impulse or out of frustration or another emotion. We must seek God and be willing to wait as He leads.
So remember, whatever you’re waiting circumstances are, when the waiting gets hard…hold your horses and wait patiently until the waiting time is lifted. Take action in the waiting by exercising your mind using the creative talents that God has blessed you with. Exercise your body physically which also helps your mental and emotional state. And pray, pray, pray! Trust God! Praise God in the waiting! Develop a closer walk with Him! Anticipate the growth and the blessings you will experience through the waiting and then when the waiting is over in His perfect timing!
“…but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31