I love to wait, said no one ever. A season of waiting can be painful, yearning for a breakthrough, for something, for anything.
But nothing seems to happen.
But know that God is busy at work. And for us? It is time to listen, learn, and trust.
Ecclesiastes 3: 1 reminds us, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:”
Embrace your season of waiting as it prepares you for what God has prepared for you.
Let’s dig a little deeper. Shall we?
Why does God Give You A Season of Waiting?
1. To Change Your View Towards Your Season of Waiting
Everyone is living their best life and receiving their breakthroughs, but you’re battling one trial after another.
I know the feeling.
Sometimes I wonder where the breakthrough line is hiding. Since I’m obviously standing in the wrong line.
But we all know this sort of thinking leads nowhere.
Although we rejoice when someone else succeeds, there is a part of us that can’t help but to wonder when we’ll receive our breakthrough. While we wait, it is natural to get restless, but we should never get to where we can’t cheer for others.
Don’t forget they too may have been in a season of waiting.
Paul tells us in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
We can’t control our circumstances, but we can control our attitudes.
God desires for you to change your attitude and bear the fruit of the spirit. Remain faithful and kind through your challenges, gleam with love and joy during your afflictions, and fill your hearts and minds with goodness and peace as you wait on God’s promises.
2. He Needs You to Surrender to Him
God didn’t give us a season of waiting to punish us or drive us crazy.
No, no, no!
He gives us seasons of waiting so we can lean on Him and only Him.
When an idea pops into our minds, we’ll spend hours and days researching, brainstorming, and designing without ever once asking God for His guidance.
How can we expect to receive His blessings when we’re off doing our own thing?
In Psalm 27:14, David tells us to “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.”
Now, this doesn’t mean we should not make plans, but we must remember God determines our steps. When we cannot surrender to God and trust His ways, all we have is our limiting beliefs.
Surrendering to God means we’ve abandoned our self-will and embraced His perfect will.
3. He is Preparing You
God sits out of time—He sees the present, past, and future all at once. I’d presume if anyone knows when we are ready, it is Him.
How many times have you started a project without thinking it through?
I’m guilty of this. Usually, I’m half-way in as I become bewildered and wonder what I’m doing to myself.
God may allow seasons of waiting because we’re simply not ready.
But there is a small catch.
It doesn’t mean you do nothing. In fact, during a season of waiting, God is preparing you for what’s to come.
I Corinthians 16:13 tells us, “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.” And 1 Thessalonians 5:6 also tells us, “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.”
You don’t enlist in the army today and head out to war tomorrow. You require training. And like a soldier in the army, God would not send you on the battlefield without training.
God knows what obstacles you’ll face and the struggles you’ll endure. He wants you to be alert and do away with weakened and limiting thoughts so you can fully receive and understand His directions.
Why Should You Embrace Your Season of Waiting?
1. You’re Not Limited to Your Beliefs
Instead of waiting on the Spirit of God to guide our path, we lean on our knowledge and make our own decisions. We decide based on what we see and feel.
Proverbs 3: 5-6 reminds us, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
We have been basing our decisions on our perception from the beginning. Based on Eve’s limiting understanding, she thought it would be fine to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
We know how that turned out.
Our hearts and minds are forever changing and can deceive us, but one constant thing is God. He never goes back on His words, He never deviates from His plans, and He always delivers on time.
2. You Won’t Waste Your Time Worrying
It is difficult to be content when you’re worried about your future, not to mention, it is unproductive. We can’t stop living because we are tired of waiting.
Jeremiah 29:11 reassures us, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
Imagine if caterpillars sat around all day doing nothing, but only complained about why they haven’t transformed into gorgeous butterflies.
There would be no butterflies.
It is normal to reflect on the future, but we mustn’t waste time worrying over what’s to come.
And like a caterpillar, we must also prepare and wait patiently for our transformation.
What Should You Do During Your Season of Waiting?
1. Pray Without Ceasing
If you’re suffering from an affliction, pray for healing. If you’re weak and weary, pray for strength. Are you dealing with disappointment? Pray about it.
Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:18, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”
A prayer life is an open communication between you and God. Praying to God draws us near to Him.
You’ll focus less on what’s to come and be well-equipped to receive His message.
There is power in prayer, so pray about everything. And if you’re lucky, it won’t even feel like a season of waiting. You will be too busy praying.
2. Listen and Take Notes During Your Season of Waiting
Although it may seem like God is not working during your season of waiting, He is working and preparing you for what’s ahead. But you will not hear Him if you’re too busy in your head.
Silence your mind, be still so you can hear God’s voice.
Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
The tests you face and the disappointments you receive, although you may not understand them, are all paving the way for your purpose.
Now is the time to take notes.
3. Be Content With What You Have
While you’re going through your waiting season, appreciate what you already have.
Paul tells us in Philippians 4:11, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”
It is hard to hold our tongues when we have to deal with one disappointment after another. We are not perfect. But God didn’t leave you hanging.
He’s still there.
And contentment, even when you’re waiting a long time, shows God your commitment to die to yourself and depend on his perfect will.
Final Note
God doesn’t want you to waste your season of waiting. There is more to it than waiting. A season of waiting is a time for spiritual growth, renewing of the mind, and preparedness.
Are you embracing your season of waiting?
It’s very genuine and helpful lesson. Really we should embrace our waiting season because God is Preparing us.