The Promise in the Wait

Have you ever longed for something so badly that it caused you physical pain? I know I sure have. For me, it was a child. After we bought our current home, I used to sit in the floor of the tiny spare bedroom and cry out to God to give me the desire of my heart. And one day He did, but then that child went right back to heaven as quickly as it came. Again, I would find myself sitting in that room, wailing and praying even harder. I just did not understand why things did not change. Why God would allow my prayer to be answered and then allow it to be taken away. Why He was allowing things to go so slowly with getting pregnant again.

Now that I have two beautiful little girls (one here with us, and one arriving any minute now!), I don’t find myself wailing in a tiny spare bedroom, but rather reflecting on God’s abundant goodness as I rock my Addilyn in a pretty floral nursery and feel sweet Lilliana kicking away. But I do find myself begging God to change other areas. To reconcile relationships, to fill my heart with friendship, to change my financial situation, I could go on…

Some days, it’s really easy to get bogged down in the wait. It can feel like you are in a permanent season of unanswered prayers. Prayers for a child, for reconciliation in a broken marriage, for a break financially…whatever it may be. I personally have been through many different seasons of hurting and waiting. And I can promise you, I get it. It is such a lonely place to be. 

I think a lot of times, the comfort that we are given is that this life is temporary, and even if our wait doesn’t come to an end here on this earth, it eventually will when we move on to heaven. This is a beautiful truth, and yes it does comfort me very often! But there is also great encouragement in this verse that is in Psalm 27.  

While it may not always look like the answer that we have in mind or have planned, you can rest assured that if you wait on the Lord, you will see His goodness in the land of the living (i.e.- this life). He is faithful, and we can take heart in that promise! Not one minute of our waiting goes unseen or uncared about, and far too often I have learned that If I simply wait on His timing and open my hands of my sense of control, the goodness that He brings is far sweeter than what I was begging Him for in the first place!

So, friend, if you feel stuck in a season of waiting and wondering, I encourage you to take heart, because you will see His goodness in His timing if you can just hold on and wait for Him.