“Wait!” That can be one of the toughest words in the English language. “Wait for the vaccine.” “Wait for the test results.” “Wait for the right job.” “Wait for that right person.”

“Wait for the red light to turn green. If you don’t you might get hit by a bus.

Yet sometimes that red light seems stuck. And, we’re tempted to charge ahead, taking matters into our own hands. Yet learning to wait on God, even when it feels like forever, supplies hidden treasure you don’t want to miss.

Preparation for A God-Sized Surprise

When my husband divorced me, I’d been working at home editing doctoral dissertations. As a second income while our sons were growing up that was great, but now my income barely covered the bills. I needed a more stable job and benefits. Yet, after months of looking, I gave up. My friend and I started praying for God to bring the right job to me at the right time.

In the meantime, I waited. Psalm 37:3-7 helped me stay focused on God while doing the best I knew how.

Trust in the Lord and do good;
Live in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.

With hopes of one day earning a decent salary, I decided to go back to school to get a degree in Organizational Leadership. Dissertations on that topic had fascinated me so much, I’d even read some of their resources.

Delighting myself in God’s goodness while waiting for classes to start gave me peace and increased my confidence. Then, out of the blue, came a phone call from a NASA scientist. Dave was also the vice-president of a science/faith think tank and offered me the position I would have wanted had I graduated with a degree. As an editor, I’d earn a good salary, medical benefits, three weeks paid vacation and a matching 401K!

Waiting all those months made me appreciate God’s amazing grace in giving me such an incredible opportunity without having to return to school.

Character Development

Yet sometimes the answers aren’t that clear. Part of the reason I could trust the Lord when I desperately needed a job was because I’d already learned how to wait on Him in a difficult marriage. Whether it’s a challenging relationship that seems to only get worse despite our prayers or some other seemingly hopeless situation, God wants to teach us to walk step by step with Him in a transformational way.

Quite often, Psalm 27:11-14 was my prayer:

Teach me Your way, Lord,
And lead me on a level path
Because of my enemies.
Do not turn me over to the desire of my enemies,
For false witnesses have risen against me, And the violent witness.
I certainly believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the Lord.

God’s ways are very different than ours. To develop them takes willingness to learn, and learning takes time. As I prayed for my marriage and trusted God, it kept taking turns for the worse. Even though those years were very difficult, I genuinely wanted our relationship to work Keeping my eyes fixed on Christ, I learned about commitment, faithfulness, and to choose love even when I didn’t feel like it. At times I felt like I was among enemies, yet God gave me the strength and courage I needed, helping me trust Him even more. The day my husband told me he wanted a divorce, I knew Jesus could get me through it. Through that extremely painful journey, He taught me the power of forgiveness and how to keep from becoming bitter.

A Special Gift in Return

Although God gives us everything, there’s only one gift I know of that we can give to God–our trust. But that requires God-given opportunities. And, the longer we have to wait, the bigger they become.

For about the past six months, I’ve been in another waiting place. My blog post from June 9th explains how I’ve been struggling with a physical issue since February. It’s involved what I consider a form of torture, and I’m convinced one word from God could resolve it. Yet, despite my prayers, at times it feels like this problem will never go away.

Seeing how God has met me every step of the way for many years, I’m choosing to trust that He knows what He’s doing and that He has plans and purposes for my suffering. That’s why I’ll keep singing His praises for the rest of my life. Knowing Christ died in my place to take the punishment for my sins and give me eternal life makes Him trustworthy, no matter how long I have to wait. 

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