Why Is Waiting So Hard?
I hate to wait.
I really hate to wait when I have no control over the matter I am waiting on.
But I especially hate to wait when the thing I am waiting on, or for, determines my next step—and I am frozen. Stuck. Trapped.
A prayer ministry I participate in is filled with prayers of the waiting.
The single woman who desires a husband.
The person who doesn’t feel well—but doesn’t have a diagnosis.
The job seeker who has received no offers.
Waiting.
It is so hard! You can hear it in their voices. And I believe each one of us feels their pain—when will this waiting end?
I read an article recently about why it is so hard to wait. The author speculated that those who are raised in loving families often receive immediate satisfaction. Cry, and you get the bottle. Dance, and people clap. Yawn, and you are rocked to sleep. Fall, and you are nurtured.
Not so when we become adults.
God tells us there will be many times of waiting. We must wait for guidance, strength, and answers.
John Owen, a 17th century minister, may hold the key to how to ease waiting.
In an article entitled “Why Is Waiting on God So Hard?” published on Christianity.com on August 10, 2022, Brian Hedges summarizes Owens’s solution: waiting should not be a passive act. Owen, writing about waiting on God for forgiveness and pardon—gives us three things we should DO when we wait.
We need to quiet our hearts and minds.
We must “keep His ways “- faithfully following the Lord while we wait.
And, we should wait with an expectant heart.
Hedges notes that while quietness keeps us from worry, faithfully and diligently following the Lord keeps us from sloth. Expectancy “guards our hearts against unbelief and despair.”
The Hebrew word translated as “wait” means “hope for” and “anticipate.” We wait, expecting the Lord to provide for our needs, renew our strength, and answer our prayers—according to His will.
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.” Isaiah 40:31 ESV
Join me in practicing “active” waiting with a quiet heart, faithfully following Christ, and expecting the Lord to provide.
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