The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Lamentations 3:25-26, ESV
Note before sharing the devotional: I still struggle with both patience and waiting. Whether I'm in a season of preparation (like right now, preparing for a wedding, a honeymoon, a bridal shower, and a move all at once) or whether I'm in a season where there appears to be nothing going on and I'm awaiting answers from the Lord on what to do next. But on the rare occasions when I have taken well to waiting and learning to be patient, I've experienced His peace.
Right now my Bible app, YouVersion, is doing a monthlong daily devotional series on rest. Its timing makes sense as June is the first month of summer break, and even for those lines of work not directly affected by the school year ending (for example, pastors and church staff), the month of May still brings a sense of an end of a series of months in a row of what we could consider "the normal routine." Even in the corporate world (where I am, more or less) people tend to favor summer for taking a week or two off, to go somewhere different and unplug from work and the usual life.
The below photo is of a beach in Santa Cruz, California. Although I would now consider this experience a template for something that would await me years into the future, I took this photo - among a series of others - late on a Friday afternoon while I was waiting for something special, at least, something that I considered special at the time. What I waited for ended up being super brief and super temporal. The object of my waiting may not have turned out to be what I had hoped for, but what it represented was still legit and would come true (finally!) almost a decade later. Now, when I look back on this moment, I don't think much about what came after but rather the memories that were created in this waiting.
Patience in the Waiting
Imagine what your life would be like if you had received everything you wished and prayed for right away. What would you be like as a person if you got every gift you asked for, every relationship you hoped for, and a “yes” to every opportunity you pursued?
There’s a reason God often answers “no” when we ask Him for things. Not getting what we want teaches us patience and humility. We become more like Christ as we grow in these things.
Wanting something and then having to wait for it can be frustrating, but God makes that time fruitful as He refines our desires in the waiting. Sometimes we ask for a very different thing once we’ve had some time to think about it!
Cold winter months may seem to be a dead season, but as trees shed their leaves and “wait” out the cold, their roots go deeper and their nourishment systems are replenished. Like a tree with deep roots, time spent waiting is not wasted for those who belong to God. Waiting is a worthwhile time, if we seek to wait with Him. Even when it seems like nothing is happening on the surface, God is doing a good work.
Taking a weekly Sabbath rest might not seem “productive” in light of all the important things God has called us to do, but we can trust that He’s at work in those days of quiet, too. The Lord is good to those who wait with and for Him.
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https://bible.com/bible/59/lam.3.25-26.ESV
Prayer: Father, You are so patient and faithful to be at work in me, even when I am impatient. Teach me to trust You, to seek to know You better, and to align myself more deeply with the things You love and value in seasons when I am waiting. Amen.
Imagine what your life would be like if you had received everything you wished and prayed for right away. What would you be like as a person if you got every gift you asked for, every relationship you hoped for, and a “yes” to every opportunity you pursued?
There’s a reason God often answers “no” when we ask Him for things. Not getting what we want teaches us patience and humility. We become more like Christ as we grow in these things.
Wanting something and then having to wait for it can be frustrating, but God makes that time fruitful as He refines our desires in the waiting. Sometimes we ask for a very different thing once we’ve had some time to think about it!
Cold winter months may seem to be a dead season, but as trees shed their leaves and “wait” out the cold, their roots go deeper and their nourishment systems are replenished. Like a tree with deep roots, time spent waiting is not wasted for those who belong to God. Waiting is a worthwhile time, if we seek to wait with Him. Even when it seems like nothing is happening on the surface, God is doing a good work.
Taking a weekly Sabbath rest might not seem “productive” in light of all the important things God has called us to do, but we can trust that He’s at work in those days of quiet, too. The Lord is good to those who wait with and for Him.
https://bible.com/bible/59/lam.3.25-26.ESV
Prayer: Father, You are so patient and faithful to be at work in me, even when I am impatient. Teach me to trust You, to seek to know You better, and to align myself more deeply with the things You love and value in seasons when I am waiting. Amen.
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