Five Good Things In The Waiting - Get Your Hopes Up

“I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.” Psalm 130:5 (NIV)

I find myself in the same spot on the days when waiting gets particularly hard. Usually, I lay on the carpet, and stare at the ceiling as I try to blink back tears that slide down the side of my face. It’s been a different floor and different ceiling each year, but the questions I have for God and the prayers I prayed are still left unanswered.

I ask things like: God, are you ever going to change this? How much longer do I have to wait? I don’t know if I can hold onto hope you are going to move for much longer.

We are waiting all the time. Today, I’m currently waiting for a friend to text me back about plans this weekend and for a package to be delivered. But I’m also waiting for things that won’t come as quickly, like getting married, or having a family of my own one day.

Because I am Type A and love a checklist, it frustrates me when I can’t do something to expedite the process of waiting. 2+2 should always = 4 and A + B should get me to C. When it doesn’t, I get real frustrated and start looking for some sense of control.

I think, there has to be something I can do. And I certainly try everything I know to try.

In the end, I feel helpless when nothing I do changes my situation. Then I find myself again, lying on the floor, crying while I stare at the ceiling, feeling hopeless in the seemingly never-ending cycle of waiting.

What do we do when we are stuck in the middle?

When we are aimlessly wondering when our circumstances are finally going to change?

A verse I often come back to in these moments is Psalm 130:5: “I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.”

We can put our hope in his word. It seems simple enough, but how do we actually do that?

We have to know what his word says. By knowing what his word says, we can gain knowledge of who God is and his promises through the Bible.

So, I open my Bible in the middle of the waiting. It’s the only place I know has the answers. It doesn’t always make me feel better in the moment, but I can see how it builds hope in me.

As I’ve looked at God’s promises and character in the Bible, I’ve discovered there are five good things in the middle of where I am and where I want to be. In the waiting, I’ve found:

1. Protection from all I do not know and cannot see from my perspective. He sees and knows everything. Often when I look back at things I was desperately waiting for, I can see how God was protecting me from something I didn’t see.
2. Preparation for all that will come on the other side of waiting. Waiting is not a passive activity. Waiting is an action. There is something I need to learn now that is more important than getting what I am waiting for. Preparation in the present is practice for the future.
3. Processes I need to go through to be transformed into the image of Christ. There is purpose in waiting; it produces patience and perseverance. Both grow our faith, help us get through difficult seasons and make us more like Jesus.
4. Proof that God is who he says he is and that I can trust him. Every story in the Bible reminds me that he keeps his promises to his people. When I am tempted to think he is not there or is holding out on me, I see evidence of his love for me.
5. Peace in knowing God is ultimately working it all out for my good and his glory. There is comfort in knowing I won’t be waiting forever. One day, all the waiting will end and we will finally be with Jesus, face to face, forever.

Time and time again, the Bible shows us he is faithful to keep his promises. When we show up, despite our feelings, and look in his word, there are good things to be found. We may not get everything we are waiting for, but whatever God is working out in our waiting, will be worth it.

Prayer:
God, thank you for the good things you do, even when I cannot see them. I praise you that despite how weary I get while waiting, you are still working. Help me to see what all you are doing. Build the patience I need in me. I choose today to trust you have good things for me here. In Jesus’ name, amen.