I had the privilege this week of being a guest blogger at #hashtagshelaughs. Check out the blog below.

#WaitingWell

Microwave meals. Fast food. Instant Pot dinners. Overnight successes. Get rich quick schemes. Commercials that scream, “It’s my money and I want it NOW.” This is the world in which we live – microwaveable, fast, instant, NOW. So we approach God with the same expectancy – a quick breakthrough, an instant dream fulfilled. We cry out to God, “It’s my promise Lord and I want it NOW!

God has given me a dream, a promise. It is a promise bigger than anything I can ever imagine. It is not something I can accomplish on my own. For this dream to come to pass, God and God only must make it happen. While this is exciting and I am honored God will give me such an amazing promise, the waiting at times has been soul crushing. Many nights, with tear soaked pillows, I have cried out, “Lord it is my promise and I want it NOW!”

Have you ever experienced the “wait”? Perhaps you are waiting for a promotion at work or the right job offer to come along. Maybe you are waiting on God to send you the right spouse to end years of loneliness. Possibly you are waiting on that child who has strayed away from God to come running back into God’s loving arms. Maybe, like Sarah, your biological clock is ticking as you wait to conceive. Perchance, like me, God has given you a promise that is beyond your pay grade and you are waiting for its fulfillment. If you are in the “wait”, take heart my sister, you are in good company.

Abraham waited 25 years before his son of promise was conceived.

Jacob labored for seven years and a week to get the girl of his dreams.

Joseph endured slavery and imprisonment for 13 years before walking in his promise.

Moses waited forty years before his people were delivered from captivity and then another forty before they walked in their promised land, which he did not witness.

Sixteen years passed between when David was anointed to be King and when he took the throne. During this time, David dwelt in caves and his life was threatened by King Saul.

Mary was given a promise that her baby boy would be the Savior of the World. Mary waited for 30 years to see the fulfillment of this promise. She endured the shame. She watched her husband die while she waited.

Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Yet Jesus waited two days before visiting his sick friend. Mary and Martha waited as their brother grew more and more ill. They waited when he died. They waited when the body was buried and began to stink. They waited for their friend to come and saved them.

ALAS, MY FRIENDS, IT SEEMS AS IF WAITING IS INEVITABLE. SO HOW DO WE WAIT WELL?

1. We wait as prisoners of hope (Zechariah 9:12). Hope is an expectation. It is something yearned for and anticipated eagerly. We wait with baited breath, believing, trusting that the God who promised is faithful. Abraham believed despite the deadness of his body and Sarah’s womb. “He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but strengthened in faith, giving glory to God (Romans 4:20).” This is how we wait as prisoners of hope – strengthen in our faith and giving glory to God.

2. We wait as one who sees (Habakkuk 2:2-3). Habakkuk was written when the nation of Judah was in great turmoil. War surrounded them. Babylonia was rising in power. Judah was experiencing violent treatment of its citizens, oppressive measures against the poor and the collapse of its legal system. In the midst of this God instructs Habakkuk to write the vision. While we wait, we must keep our eyes on the prize. We can’t go where we can’t see. So we use our sanctified imagination to see ourselves dwelling in our Promised Land. “The vision is yet for an appointed time but at the end it will speak and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it because it will surely come. It will not tarry.” This is how we wait, envisioning the promises of God.

3. We wait as students (Hebrews 12:6). Before David led a nation, he led 500 misfits. Before Abraham was a father to many, he was a father to his nephew. Before Moses was a shepherd of a nation, he was a shepherd of sheep. What lesson is God teaching you in the wait? How is God preparing you for the promise? God does not waste anything. He is using your wait to give you the foundation needed to withstand the blessing that is coming. Whom He loves, he disciplines (teaches). This is how we wait, as learners eager for the next lesson.

4. We wait as prosperous ones (I Corinthians 15:58). Enslaved and imprisoned, yet despite his circumstances, Joseph prospered. Paul encourages us to “not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart (Galatians 6:9).” While in the wait, we continue to do what God has called us to do. We continue to do good. This is how we wait – steadfast, unmovable and always abounding in God’s word.

5. We wait knowing God is in the wait (Matthew 28:20b). The wait can sometimes be unbearable, perhaps even soul crushing at moments. But we wait, knowing God is right there. Those times when we don’t understand, times when we want to give up, times when we are disappointed, we know we can fall in his arms for comfort and find peace. He is there to wipe the tears from our eyes, to remind us of His promises for us, to love us unconditionally. He is in the wait! So as you wait, keep your eyes on the true prize – the author and finisher of your faith – Jesus. This is how we wait – knowing He is always with us.

Ladies, in this microwave, fast, and instant world, we are tempted to expect God to work the same way. But God who is the same, yesterday, today, and forever often invites us to wait with him. It is not because He is cruel or delights in our sorrow. But it is because He is preparing a great feast for us. He is preparing a promise that needs marinating and slow cooking. And while He is preparing the feast, He is also preparing us to enjoy and steward well the generous blessing He has in store for His daughters.

Friends, I am learning not to despise the wait. I am learning to enjoy it!

Ladies, He is in the wait, so wait well.

See more on waiting and other blogs at hashtagsshelaughs.com