What are you waiting for?
There have been many times where I could feel the season of life changing. Often in the past this would make me stressed or anxious. The fear of not knowing what’s next would take over.
In some ways I could say my life has been in a season of change for about 4 years now. But certainly, the last year and a half has brought about significant changes.
When I was younger, I heard someone say life is full of changes. Seasons come and go. The good times won’t stay good but the bad times won’t either. I always thought of seasons like the weather, a short time period, maybe a few weeks or months. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I realized some seasons can last years and often we can be in multiple seasons at once.
There are times where our personal life may be happy and successful while maybe our career is a struggle. Or maybe you’re thriving at your job but your marriage is on the rocks. Maybe motherhood is blissful, but your spiritual journey may be lacking. From my experience there has never been a season where everything in my life was all good or all bad at once.
As I have continued to walk with the Lord, I do believe it has gotten easier to feel the Holy Spirit moving in my life. I have learned to see him at work around me. I can honestly say it has taken a lot of work for me to learn how to rest in his timing. I am in one of those seasons now.
I can see God aligning things around me. I can see those certain areas where success came with ease I am now struggling but other areas where I felt I could never get it right things are starting to fall into place. I can see this shift and I find myself getting anxious with the Lord. The Bible says to praise him in the hallway but as a visual learner I literally picture myself walking in a hallway knocking on the doors waiting for one to open. The truth is that’s not what my life looks like right now. I’m still in one room and I know God is preparing me to leave so I keep asking, “is it time yet?”
God has shown me the next door but it’s not ready just yet. Yesterday my anxiety had me asking him, “what about that door? Or maybe that one?”. I begin to really stress about this. The fear of not fully knowing what’s next still gets to me from time to time.
So I did a what I know to do, I asked God “what do YOU want me to do?”. His reply was, “I already told you. Stopping asking about all the other doors, those aren’t for you. I’m preparing you for the next door but it’s going to open slower than you think, just do as I have already told you.” I’m so thankful he knows I’m stubborn and heard headed.
I did a search for Bible verses about waiting on the Lord and I found over 100!! I’m not sure why I was surprised, waiting on God is a huge part of our journey here on Earth. As I began reading them each verse had the same message, those who wait on the Lord will truly be blessed. Following his guidance will result in a much richer, happier, more abundant outcome than if we try to do it alone.
What I also noticed was that waiting doesn’t have to be a season of stress and anxiety. That’s something many of us do to ourselves and by us, I mean me. I have had to work at changing this behavior. I believe that God wants use to trust that he is doing the work ahead of us so that we can be happy in the moment in front of us. God wants us to have peace in knowing that we can glorify him even when we know the door is closing.
I am sharing a few of the verses I found encouragement from below. I know waiting is something we all experience and hope you find encouragement in the Lord the same as I did.
Isaiah 40:31 “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (ESV)
Lamentations 3:25 “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.” (ESV)
Isaiah 30:18 “Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.” (ESV)
Psalm 33:20-22 “Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.”(ESV)
Exodus 14:14 “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” (NIV)