Why Is God Making Me Wait So Long?
Why Is God Making Me Wait?
“I don’t want to wait in vain for your love.”
I’m pretty sure a lot of us can relate to lyrics from Bob Marley’s song.
Tired? Frustrated? Anxious? Overwhelmed with waiting?
Days turn to weeks, weeks turn to months, and sometimes months turn into years.
Do you wonder why God is making you wait so long? What reasons could He possibly have that we don’t often consider? How do we walk through the season of waiting?
Shanté, the founder of Daily She Pursues, shares that
God allows us to wait for many different reasons. God gives his people a promise and it takes years to happen. Although it doesn’t make sense in our eyes, God always has a reason for allowing time to pass before fulfilling his word.
I don’t have the answers, but hopefully, this message helps you realize that God is always worth the wait.
Waiting On The Promise of God
We can relate to Pastor Craig Groeschel’s message of Life.Church when he said,
One of the worst feelings in life is to wait.
God's timing might always be perfect, but it can also be frustrating. It can feel like sometimes, He’s forgotten us.
He shares about how God’s timing makes us pause, reflect, and depend on Him.
From our perspective, we have everything figured out and we want God to move within our timeframe.
Eric Speir, a pastor, college professor, and practical theologian, wrote the article “5 Reasons God Makes Us Wait” where he expresses how God rarely does things according to our timeframe, and because of this, we can easily get discouraged. More often than not, we tend to think that he’s grown uncaring or mad at us because of this.
In the Gospels, he shares that this has happened to both Mary and Martha while they are waiting on Jesus to come and heal their brother, Lazarus. When Jesus finally shows up, instead of immediate gratitude, He is accused of taking too long.
The Bible is full of stories of people having to wait on God, such as Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joseph, David, Daniel, Jesus, Paul, and countless others. They went through the difficulties of life with God. In the end, they enjoyed the process with God and the promise of God.
We all share the same stories too.
God Has His Reasons For Making Me Wait
God always has good reasons for making us wait. Waiting is a part of life and one of God’s tools for developing people.
Hoot and Howl’s article on “Why Does God Make Us Wait?” breaks it down to 5 interesting points on why waiting has a purpose. Something has to be going on during our seasons of waiting.
1) Preparing for what’s coming
Sometimes the thing hasn’t come yet, because you’re not ready. We can use our seasons of waiting to prepare as best as we can for what’s coming.
2) Experience a period of growth
Growing is a part of preparing. But instead of just preparing the things around you, this is about preparing yourself. Learn and grow as much as you can, so you’re ready for when the promise comes.
3) Waiting for the right time
This sounds a little vague...probably because it is. But God chooses the right time, not us, and He has His own criteria for that. So, whatever you’re waiting for, you can trust God that the right time hasn’t come yet.
(If the right time hasn’t come, that doesn’t mean you haven’t grown enough or you’re not prepared yet. Only God knows the reasons for the right time. Don’t blame yourself for a delayed fulfillment, just use the time you have to prepare and grow.)
4) Keeping our focus on the promise
We need to wait expectantly. We should never focus on God’s promises over God himself, but as long as our main focus is the right place, it’s okay to be working towards that promise. When we have the end goal in mind, we know what we’re working towards and preparing for. We remember the great things God has said and already done. And we recognize the promise when it is fulfilled!
5) God is with us in the waiting
I think a little bit of the reason God makes us wait, is so that He can wait with us. He is helping us prepare and grow. He is speaking encouragement to us. And He is just as excited (probably more so) when His words are finally fulfilled! When we draw close to God in the seasons of waiting, it doesn’t matter how long we have to wait. If we grow in our relationship with God, the wait is worth it.
In her article, “When God’s Timing Is Taking Too Long”, Joyce ends with a very powerful message when waiting on God...she shares that,
God causes things to happen at exactly the right time! Your job is not to figure out when, but to make up your mind that you won't give up until you cross the finish line and are living in the radical, outrageous blessings of God!
“The more you trust Jesus and keep your eyes focused on Him, the more life you'll have.”
Trusting God brings life. Believing brings rest. So stop trying to figure everything out, and let God be God in your life.
Waiting can be hard for everyone, especially if we’re anticipating and hopeful for something grand or special to happen in our lives. We don’t like feeling stuck in seasons of waiting, but waiting doesn’t have to be just empty space of nothing until something happens.
Seasons of waiting for God hold a purpose that He intended for us. God prepares us for what’s coming, draws us closer to Him, and follows through with His promise.
God’s timing is always the best timing.
Trust with your heart as you wait in anticipation.