I feel like I'm always writing new posts about my waiting season, and you'd think eventually I'd have a "conclusion", like an "I made it!" moment, but I think that our lives are compiled of countless waiting seasons. Perhaps it's just human nature, to always be looking to what's ahead, and that's why we always feel like we're waiting, but the Lord has done so much work in my heart. I'm constantly getting refined and corrected, refocused and adjusted back to His perspective, and while I'm weary, it's a blessing.
In Luke 11:35-48, Jesus tells a parable about a master and his servants. Basically, the master goes out, and the servants don't know when he's coming back. Some of the servants wasted their time, beating the other servants and getting drunk, while others used their time to prepare for their master, taking care of the house. When the master came home, the servants who were violent and drunk were humiliated and punished, but the servants who were wise were honored.
This parable was intended as instruction for believers waiting on Jesus' return, but the Lord opened my eyes to how relatable this is to our waiting seasons in general. It's so easy to waste away the waiting, throwing caution to the wind and "living it up", but we do nothing to actually prepare for that which we are waiting for, and when it finally comes, we're not ready and we don't get to enjoy it fully.
I know for me this doesn't usually look like loud, obnoxious sin but complaining and envy and discontentment, and I felt very convicted about that after reading this Scripture. I miss so much time, so many opportunities because I'm stuck on what I don't have yet, but I don't want to keep living that way. Because the longer I waste my waiting season, the less I'm going to be able to enjoy and participate in the blessing on the other side - and the blessings that are right in front of me.
I can't remember if I wrote this myself or heard it somewhere, but on my notes app I found this quote: "The way in which we wait will determine the way we experience the magnitude of the blessing - God's presence." We often think that the blessing is only the end result, but there's so much of God that we're missing with that mentality. If we wait in a way that is discontent and only focusing on what we don't have, we're going to lose so many opportunities to commune with God and experience an intimacy with Him that we can't have when everything goes our way.
Below that, I had also written that "we are more often focused on what we are praying for than who we are praying to", and that is powerful. I think a huge reason we become so frustrated while we wait is because our eyes are fixed on the expectation or dream instead of the Almighty and our Savior. We become so consumed with what we want to happen that we lose sight of the character of God and His goodness no matter what happens. We forget that even if we don't get the answer we want, He is still faithful and He still has a perfect plan.
Instead of missing God's presence and fixating my eyes on that which I'm praying for, I'm learning to seek the Lord in the midst of the waiting. I'm learning to meditate on His character and faithfulness even when the world around me seems to be spinning. I'm learning to be productive and wise in my waiting season - despite my heart's desire to "live it up" or go wild with anxiety and fear.
But let's get more specific, more practical. How do we wait well? How do we steward our waiting season in a way that honors the Lord? How can we be productive while we wait?
1.We keep pressing into the Lord.
Some of the servants in that parable stopped doing the tasks that they were supposed to while they were waiting on their master, but the ones who were honored continued to faithfully do their assigned work. In the same way, while we wait, we must keep on seeking the Lord and pursuing Him, chasing after Him with a fervor that is chosen, not a feeling. If we want to wait well, we have to keep reading our Bibles, keep praying, keep meeting with the Lord daily and communing with other Christians. If God isn't part of it, then it will be wasted.
I know that sounds harsh, but it's the truth. We have to keep digging into His presence, whether we feel it or not. I don't want to miss His presence, His voice, whatever He has for me in this season - and that means that I have to keep faithfully showing up. I won't see Him work unless I'm connected to Him, and I won't grow closer to Him if I'm not spending time with Him. I can't expect fruit without being connected to the vine, so I'm going to be connected to the vine.
2. We intentionally worship and choose gratefulness.
The Lord has so kindly convicted me of my complaining, and although it's necessary to correct, it's hard. I have become so used to it that I struggle to recognize it in myself anymore. But the solution? Worship. It's impossible to complain when you're praising the Almighty God, the creator of heaven and earth, the Savior of my soul. Worship takes your eyes off of that which you're praying for and moves you to look at the one you are praying to. This often involves music for me, but even sitting in silence and thanking the Father quietly is such a beautiful act of worship.
I'm working on thanking the Lord throughout the day for the things He has blessed me with. Sometimes I'm thanking Him for blueberry muffins, my dream prom dress, hot showers, or blasting music with the windows rolled down - but I'm trying to become more intentional about it. I don't want to spend this season of waiting complaining the whole time and missing some of the most beautiful and precious moments, so I'm working on looking at the good and less of the "bad".
3. We remind ourselves of the truth.
I don't know about you, but for me, the longer I wait the more my mind goes wild and the more footholds the devil has to attack me and discourage me. Truth and lies start to blend together, and the line between right and wrong gets a little bit blurry. I've spent countless nights begging God to just give me a glimpse of His word, of the truth, to ground me and secure me when the prolonged waiting makes my mind spin.
The Lord doesn't usually lay it all out for me, but I have to choose to identify the thoughts in my mind and remind myself of what Scripture says. Not what my mind or my heart or my friends or my Pinterest feed is saying, but what my physical Bible says. With a specific verse to back it up. I literally will make lists of the thoughts in my mind, cross it out, and write Scripture next to it as a way to tear down the lies swirling around my head. This practice, whether it looks like lists or not, is vital. We have to be rooted in Scripture and the truth, or else we are going to lose our mind and our faith during this waiting season, and I don't think that's what any of us want.
4. We walk in the opportunities right in front of us.
Even though I'm waiting for an answer from the Lord doesn't mean that there's not still work to be done. My world has not stopped spinning and moving, and so I can't freeze and miss all of the things that the Lord has still put right in front of me. I have a family to learn how to better love, friends to invest in, school to work on, workouts to run, chores to do. My routine, what I think of as mundane, is a gift from God, and every day is an opportunity to serve the Father and see Him more clearly.
With every new day that I open my eyes, I have a million chances to thank the Lord, to choose to love the people around me and reflect His character. There are still so many places that I can serve, that I can share Jesus, and I have to walk in that. I have to keep doing my "job" as Christian and humbly planting seeds and tending the fields while I wait for the harvest.
5. We lean in and learn to be content.
Ultimately, I have to learn to rest in what this season looks like right now. I have to be content knowing the character of God and the fact that one day it will all work out for my good and His glory. Philippians 3:14 says that "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength", and Paul was actually talking about being content in every situation. It is by the grace and kindness Jesus that I can be okay in the waiting and be satisfied by His presence. This isn't something that can be mustered up or faked, but received by spending quality time with our Savior.
Friends, I know that the waiting season is hard. I don't know what you're waiting for, but I'm familiar with the longing to get to the "answer", when everything is worked out and understood. But the Lord is convicting me so graciously about stewarding my waiting season well, honoring Him in the midst of it, instead of complaining and wasting it away. And in the midst of the struggle and the wrestling, He's reminding me that He is still good, that He is still faithful and in control, and it's going to end in victory. Amen? Amen!
What is the Lord teaching you while you wait? How are you waiting well? Let me know down in the comments below; I love to hear from you!
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