How to W.A.I.T. Upon the Lord
When they told us STARBASE would be on a temporary pause due to lack of funding, I never thought it would continue to last this long; it’s beginning to feel like a clock that is just STUCK and not ticking.
Waiting on God feels like the clock is stuck sometimes. And that’s exactly the season God has me in right now – waiting.
For almost three months, when people have asked me about STARBASE and how things are going my simple reply is, “Waiting. We’re just waiting.” And at this point I’m annoyed and growing weary. Do I continue to hold on and see where this ends up? Do I need to be looking for another job eventually? This federal funding thing has been has been an issue from the get go of this job – it never gets better, it never gets fixed; it just gets wearisome in the waiting.
Last week as I pulled into the church parking lot, God just kept telling my heart to wait. Just wait.
Wait? Wait on what I asked? He’s just told me to wait. I have a couple of options for what I need to be waiting on.
On applying elsewhere? On looking for a new job? On sending out my book proposal? Clarity will come with time, discernment and a little more patience than I’ve been willing to have.
Maybe I’ve been like Abraham and Sarah who grew impatient waiting for God to fulfill His promise of a son.
Maybe I’m being like Moses who took matters into his own hand with violence and had to flee to Midian – only to delay the blessings God had for him. (Ok – I’m not violent!)
Maybe I’m being like the Israelites who grew impatient waiting on Moses and his tablets. They turned to Aaron asking him to make the golden calf to worship, instead of waiting.
All of these showed their lack of faith and trust in God when the answers they were looking for didn’t come. There were great and profound consequences full of conflict and grief and delayed blessings because they decided to take matters into their own hands.
Maybe that’s what I’ve been doing – trying to make things happen in my own time and by my own power.
I don’t want to live with consequences of not being patient enough. I’ve had my say – I’ve tried to fight for my staff and for funding. And so now, I wait.
I’ve been saying that word for almost 3 months and now I’ve been intentionally sitting with that word for a week. And in the meantime – you know I wrote a Bible Bite on how to W.A.I.T. on the Lord.
How do we wait? We need to be reassured that He will meet our every need while we patiently trust Him and not lean on our own understanding about what we think we need to do, what we need to make happen, what we want to happen!
We must learn from the Bible! We’ve been warned—there are consequences for not waiting on God!
“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” – Psalm 27:14
“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:19
“I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.” – Psalm 40:1
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” – Proverbs 3:5
I’m not doubting God, nor His timing so much – I’m just not trusting those in charge!! LOL. I trust God, but do THEY?
I know God sees me and has not forgotten me…even when I’m THE. ONLY. ONE. AT. WORK. for hours and days on end. I’ll just keep reminding myself that this can be a time of Him refining my spirit, my writing, my thoughts, my heart, and my faith.
I haven’t lost my faith. I’m not mad at God. I’m just annoyed with my current circumstances.
As I’ve been writing this, I found a note in my Bible from 2018. (*let’s save the comments about how here I am again obviously repeating or revisiting this lesson on waiting with the Lord 7 years later! LOL!) I wrote this in the margins of Psalm 27:14 – it says #waiting = actively doing what God has already revealed until He reveals the next something!
Read that again – “actively doing what God has already revealed until He reveals the next something!”
Basically, stay put where He has has you until He says move. That means throwing out our expectations, timelines, plans, and wants!
Be reassured that God sees you, even if you can’t see Him.
He hears your cries and your prayers – even if He seems silent.
Trust that He is working in the background, even if you don’t see it.
He knows your frustrations, and can handle your gripes and complaints.
I’m reminded of Isaiah 40:31 – “…but they that 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 is offering comfort and hope to the Israelites when they were living in exile and experiencing great despair. This waiting is a deep trust and requires relying on God’s power and strength, not our own. This is not a passive waiting time – it calls for our active faith and to hold on with great expectation.
We will endure challenges, but our strength will be renewed. It says so! It’s a promise!
