Waiting on the Lord
We are all waiting on something. Whether it’s hearing back from a job, getting married, having children, waiting for test results, praying for a child to return to the Lord, or longing for reconciliation with or between loved ones, the list could go on.
The Christian life itself is one of waiting. Those who repent and believe in the gospel are now waiting for our Savior, who came, lived a perfect life, died for our sins, rose from the grave, and ascended to the right hand of the Father. One day, He will come again and make all things right. In His first coming, He paid the penalty for our sin and dismantled its power. When He comes again, He will finally remove the presence of sin (I personally can’t wait for that day). But for now, we are constantly in a place of waiting.
So let me ask you: what are you waiting on right now? Big or small, I want you to get personal for a moment.
In hopes of leading by example, let me share my list:
Salvation for unsaved loved ones
A Christ-centered marriage
Children I can love and raise in the Lord
Direction on what’s next
Can I also get vulnerable? It’s been really, really hard lately not only to wait on these things, but to wait well. Especially when you see glimmers of hope only for them not to amount to anything (or so you think). Or when you know there are things you technically can “control.”
Take marriage, for example. You could just get into a relationship with anyone and decide to get married. You may not stay married, but if marriage itself were simply the goal, you could make it happen. Even apart from marriage, we live in a world where having children is often framed as purely your choice. With direction, I can just take a step. With salvation, I can just hit everyone I love on the head with a Bible... just kidding.
But seriously, do you get where I’m going with this?
In the world, and before Christ, we can simply make decisions without much thought about whether they are actually right, as long as they feel right to us. But in Christ, there is constantly a question that should loom over our heads and prick our hearts: “God, is this Your will?” We have to continually ask ourselves: what would bring God the utmost glory?
Hence why waiting is important, but also why it can feel so long and hard. We want God’s best and God’s timing, which is good. However, there are two warnings tied to this good desire that God has been dealing with me about.
First, depending on the situation, we can use “waiting for clear direction from God” as an excuse not to walk in faith. Beware of this. There are times when God calls us to move without having all the details we would like, simply trusting that He is leading us, even if things do not end the way we hoped. A classic example is Abraham, then Abram (Genesis 12:1). If we are acknowledging God and being led by His Spirit, we can trust that He knows what He is doing and that He is working everything for our greatest good, conforming us more into the image of His Son (Proverbs 3:5–6; Romans 8:28–29).
That is why this whole waiting journey requires staying near to God, in His Word, in prayer, and in the community He has called you to. In doing so, we can better discern whether, in the thing we are waiting on, we need to move or be still.
Second, there is also the danger of putting what we are waiting for in the wrong place in our hearts. We can desire something so much that we obsess over it and lose sight of this truth: none of it can truly satisfy the longing of our souls, even good gifts like marriage and children.
How do I know this? Because only God can.
Let me share a quick story. A few years back, I was waiting for a promotion at my job. A year or so ago, that promotion finally happened. And I kid you not, I felt so underwhelmed when I found out. Not that I wasn’t grateful—I absolutely was. But all I could think was: “Is that it?”
I had to face the reality that what I imagined getting the promotion would feel like was not reality at all. It didn’t fulfill me the way I thought it would because it was never meant to.
Can you relate?
God created us and blesses us with so many good gifts (James 1:17). But those gifts are meant to point us back to the Giver: to worship Him, glorify Him, and honor His name. And you know what? That is actually our greatest joy (Psalm 16:11).
Throughout His Word, we are reassured that true satisfaction is found in Him alone and in following His ways:
“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”
— Psalm 63:1“Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
— Psalm 73:25–26“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
— Matthew 5:6
May God continue to reorient our hearts so that, as we wait for what we desire, we would delight in Him first and foremost (Psalm 37:4).
But how do we wait well?
We wait well by staying near to God, constantly putting our desires before Him and asking that He Himself would become our greatest desire. We ask Him to renew any desires that do not honor Him, to give us patience while we wait for the ones that do, and to daily satisfy us with Himself.
We wait well by knocking, asking, and praying, no matter how long it takes. We do not give up. We continually place both the thing we are waiting for and the struggle of waiting before the Lord. If it is His will, time itself is subject to Him, so we can trust that it truly is a matter of His perfect timing.
We wait well by praying for the grace to be content and to see God’s goodness in our lives right now. We pray for the grace to trust what the Lord has planned over our own plans and timelines. And we pray that He would help us focus on the right things so that we are not so consumed with what we do not yet have that we miss what we already do.
Friend, in all your waiting, keep looking to the Lord, who is not only worth the wait but is ultimately where true satisfaction is found while you wait!
