We often struggle when waiting is hard. Difficult circumstances, discouragement, impatience, and doubt are a few of the challenges of waiting. Learn to make the most of your wait by resting in the Lord, tips on waiting with faith from Psalm 37.
Today the pressure of the wait flattens me against the floor, feeling like it is going to push the heart right out of me.
Wait patiently for Him.
This waiting word, chuwl, is not a pretty word. It doesn’t sit easy. The Hebrew essence of this word can make your hair wild and your eyes run like rivers with tears that come from deep places. To wait patiently holds in its meaning the angst of a woman in labor: twist, whirl, dance, writhe, fear, tremble, travail, be in anguish, be pained.
No, this is not a word for wimps or cowards.
I fight against the discouragement of a seemingly long season of waiting for lots of things. Questions for the future, life transitions, and work that seems to fly into the abyss of the internet. Heart pressing through the rhythm of fingers on a keyboard. I feel stuck…like a teacher with no class, a preacher with no congregation, a loner with no sidekick. Yet still this passion stirs and grows and I cannot stop.
I hope it is a holy passion, but I question myself.
The day I wrote these words in my journal, I wanted to throw in the towel and quit. Perspective blurred by discouragement, the work of years seemed pointless. None of this is true, but emotions can be a powerful force. Too often I feel like I am marooned at my computer and there is little encouragement of response or community that I can see.
Nevertheless, I know in my soul that quitting is not an option.
God reminds me that in all of our struggle to wait patiently, He is bringing forth something of value–the gritty, beautiful strong stuff of life– character, dreams, plans, callings, healing, growth, victory… At times, this wait-word is translated as to bring forth or to hope–and this points us in the right direction. In the waiting we can choose to believe that He is faithful.
Friend, are you discouraged in a waiting time? Does the distance of the wait tempt you to forget that God is for you?
We have to learn this hard thing called spiritual perseverance.
It is in seasons of waiting that faith grows strong as we continue to dwell and trust and cultivate and do and rest. Every step for making the most of each day is intended to fill up those waiting times.
Discouragement may pound on us at times, but waiting can be filled with many good blessings.
Trusting God in the wait means letting go of the what if’s. Believing God enables us to rest and grow while we wait rather than pacing the floor with restless frustration. How many times have we mistaken not now for not ever?
Strength for the wait:
Truly, if we wait without resting and trusting, the waiting closes in like iron bars of a prison. When God writes wait on the calendar of our plans, He is always working. He never wastes a good wait.
Maybe it is time to remember that I am waiting with God.
When emotions get us down, we have to be intentional with our soul talk.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I have hope in Him.”
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him… Lamentations 3:20-25
So, where does the spiritual meet the practical in all this?
Today I choose to wait with God as I make the most of this day…
- Let go of fretting
- Trust God and do good
- Dwell in the land
- Cultivate faithfulness
- Delight myself in God
- Trust Him for the desires of my heart
- Commit my way to Him
- Believe He will do it
- Rest in the Lord
As I wait patiently for Him.
How can we encourage one another in the waiting times?
I would be so honored know what you think by leaving a comment below.
Resources to Build Your Faith When Waiting in Hard
When waiting is hard and you struggle to rest in the Lord, deepen your faith with practical resources and spiritual encouragement from Ginger. You will find inspiration to increase your faith in Ginger’s newsletter, as well as The Deeper Life Collection for subscribers. Check out Holy in the Moment, for a book packed with tips and truths to deepen your faith (affiliate link).
So glad you're here. I help busy women—gals like you— build healthy habits for living well with biblical wisdom and practical steps to deepen your faith, increase your hope, and thrive in your purpose.
Bless you, Ginger. Your words were exactly what I need to hear today.
I am grateful that these words have been an encouragement to you today. I know that God will be faithful to bring forth His answers to the things that we wait for. Praying for you today.
Beautifully said, Ginger. I guess nowhere do we get to practice dying to self more than in the waiting… I pray this coming weekend we truly will soar with wings like eagles, even if for just a moment 🙂
I think it will be for way more than just a moment! It’ll be all weekend. Can’t tell you how much I am looking forward to leading worship along side with what God is going to say through you! Praying for you!
Ginger, I do understand this waiting season. I believe that God uses those seasons to (1) draw us closer to Him and (2) bring us into new seasons. Oh He uses it to prune us, shape us and mold us too, and that’s the hard part. It can be very painful and seemingly lonely. But God is with you! May He continue to strengthen you in your waiting season.
Oh I am blessed by your kind and true words, Barbie. Thanks so much for stopping by.
Inspired and beautiful words on waiting, my friend. God is refining and developing you in that place. Standing with you in the waiting room.
Thank you. I appreciate your solidarity Sister. Appreciate your encouragement more than I can say!
Hi Ginger! Our mutual friend Kendra, from the 500 Words Group, pointed your post out to me. i’m so glad she did.
I feel as though you’ve written my heart. Waiting is hard, and it would seem from what you have shared that we’re waiting for some similar things.
How good to be reminded that this painful pause serves a higher purpose. What really struck me was about the fact that we don’t wait alone…God waits with us.
I so needed to read this today. Thanks for sharing it on the group page. I will suscribe to receive updates.
I hope we can connect on FB as well.
Blesings!
So nice to make a new bloggy friend. Thanks for subscribing and I will look forward to reading your work as well. May God encourage you and bring great fruit from your waiting days.
I stumbled on your blog today and have been reading through your posts on rest and waiting in God. I am a 33 year old mother of 4 and am currently in chronic pain. I see no end in sight and have become discouraged. Thank you for these reminders and hope.
A, I’m so glad you dropped me a line to share a peek into your story. Being a mom to four children is a non-stop job of love and energy. I’m so sorry to read that you are dealing with chronic pain. I am praying that God will encourage you and show you some practical ways to manage the physical and emotional challenge of parenting in chronic pain. When my children we young, I battled with Graves Disease. I was not in physical pain, but I experienced a crippling level of anxiety and sleeplessness. There were days I was hanging on my a thread, but God has been faithful to help me in many ways. Isaiah 43:2 is a verse that has encouraged me in difficult times:“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,
Nor will the flame burn you.
I stumbled on your blog today and have been reading thro
ugh your posts on rest and waiting in God. I am a 33 year old mother of 4 and am currently in chronic pain. I see no end in sight and have become discouraged. Thank you for these reminders and hope.