I want to share with you all something the Lord laid on my heart a while back. So many times God gives us a promise or He speaks something to us about our lives or our family and we think that means it going to happen right NOW. We get ready, we start watching for it to happen, and then time goes by. We wait patiently at first, and then sometimes not so patiently when we do not see it coming to pass.

When we find ourselves in this situation we can do one of three things. We can continue to wait patiently, get impatient and start trying to “help” God with the timeline, or give up on the promise and sometimes even on God.

I am reminded of the story of Abraham and Sarah. Genesis 16:1–16; 17:18–26; 21:1–21. God had promised Abraham that He would make a great nation out of him and his offspring. The only problem was Abrahams wife had never had children, they were older, and it did look like she was going to have a child anytime soon. I don’t know how long Abraham and Sarah held on to God’s promise before they decided to take matters into their own hands, but that is exactly what happened. Sarah told Abraham to take her servant and have a child with her and that could be the way God could bless his offspring. They did not consult God, they did not wait on God, they found a solution to the issue and went full speed ahead.

Abraham had a child with the servant. God made it clear that was not His plan for the promise He gave to Abraham. Sarah ended up getting pregnant and had a child and from the moment of birth there was contention between the promised son and the one that was birthed from Sarah and Abrahams impatience. There was contention, jealously, envy, strife, and bitterness.

As I think about that story I wonder how often we do the exact same thing. We start off waiting on God but somewhere along the line we decide to take matters into our own hands. That doesn’t cancel out God’s plan, but it sure can make a mess of the situation and at times we are left with major long lasting consequences of getting out of God’s plan and timing for our lives.

I want to encourage you to remember that God’s timing is perfect and ours is not. He sees the full picture and we only get a tiny glimpse. His perspective is perfect and ours is not.

Practical Tips For A Season of Waiting

Run to God. He knows how much you want that promise to come to pass. Pour your heart out to Him. If you are frustrated, tell Him. If you are sad, tell Him. Don’t try to hide your feelings from Him, but instead pour them out to Him and ask Him to heal your heart in any areas that need healed. He is your Healer. No one and nothing else will do what He can do.

Don’t let the promise become an idol in your life. By that I mean don’t start seeking the promise more than you are seeking God. Don’t let it become more important than Him.

Refuse to get bitter. It really is a choice that we can make. Evaluate your heart condition, often, and as soon as you recognize any bitterness, anger, frustration, etc take it to God in repentance and ask for a restored/healed heart. Choose to walk by faith and not by sight.

Don’t take matters into your own hands because it will just create a mess.

Stay in the Word. The Bible is our lifeline and guide to daily living. It is a must and we cannot neglect our reading and study time.

Don’t neglect spiritual warfare. The enemy (demons) would love nothing more than to create a wall between you and God. Don’t allow them to tell you lies about who He is and about what He has spoken to you. Verbally command the demons to be silent and to leave in the name of Jesus.

Approach God from a place of surrendering your entire life to Him. That means His will, plan, timing, and purpose for our lives, not ours. We do not try to fit Him into our lives, but instead He is the focus that we surround our lives around. It means holding nothing back from Him.

Our relationship with God is the most important relationship in our lives. We must treat it that way. Any relationship takes communication and time spent together in order to grow. If we are not spending time with Him we are not really in a relationship with Him. There is a huge difference between knowing about God and knowing Him personally. We must be intentional about growing in relationship with God. Time in prayer is a must. Prayer is our communication with God and it involves talking and listening. We must talk to Him, but we must also learn to listen to what He is speaking to us.

Blessings,

Nichole Henson

Fullness of Joy Ministry

fullnessofjoyministry@gmail.com