God, what are you waiting for? 

By Oriel Moran

To be completely honest, I hate waiting. It’s never been a strong suit of mine. When I say ‘waiting,’ I don’t mean standing in line behind people as slow as sloths, wishing to clock out of work, or any moment in which time seems to drag on. I’m talking about waiting for the fulfillment of the heart’s deepest longings, the things only God can bring to pass.

At this point on your journey, you might still hold profusely to faith and pray and stay excited in your expectation. But, what if you’ve been waiting for a while? Months, years, or maybe even decades?

Perhaps you’ve grown weary under the unrewarding and disillusioning reality that what you’ve been contending for seems further away than when you first started? Or by now, downright impossible.

You might even be tempted to give up, thinking God doesn’t see the urgency or seriousness of the matter, and if He does, he doesn’t care.

Are we alone in our waiting? Has God ever waited for anything? 

Long, Long, Long-suffering

What’s so hard about waiting? Well, with it comes an element of suffering. And waiting without patience makes the waiting all the worst (Romans 8:25). The Hebrew word for patience is ‘savlanoot,’ which root word is ‘Sevel,’ which means suffering.

Joseph learned a thing or two about patience in suffering. He was locked in a dark, cold, scorpion-infested prison, alone in a foreign land, traumatized by his brothers’ betrayal, sold as a slave, accused of rape – waiting to see the light of day.

Or David, anointed to be king of Israel, hunted down by Saul, his father-in-law who turned mad with murderous jealousy—searching for refuge in the hot desert caves, fending off enemies – waiting for a turnaround. 

Or Job, crushed with grief, losing all his possessions, collecting his children’s bodies from the rubble, tormented by painful boils and the stinging words of accusing friends – begging for vindication.

Extreme examples? Maybe. But when you fill in the blanks of your life, your challenges aren’t less real.

Alas, it seems that, apart from suffering, what makes waiting difficult, is the loneliness that clings to it. It’s then when we start asking, ‘Where is God in my suffering?’

You may think, ‘Well, Jesus doesn’t know how that feels.” But He does, or as Hebrews 4:15 puts it: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin.”

Jesus felt loneliness so intense that on the cross, He yelled out in the anguish of His soul: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). And yet we know that God the Father was very, VERY, present with Him because He cannot abandon His Son, or in other words, abandon Himself.

What a comforting truth to know, as sons and daughters of God, that pain is not an indicator that God is not with us but merely causes us to feel that He is not. He is closer than the skin on our bones or the air in our lungs – He lives in our very spirit. And you can’t get any closer than that.

By the way, Joseph (Genesis 50:20), David (Psalm 40:1-3), and Job (Job 42) would all come to understand that God was with them, and He turned everything to good. 

Emmanuel – God With Us

God waits with us and more than often – for us. He waits patiently in our purification process as His bride (Revelation 19:7-8), so we can be reunited for eternity. And that deep love for us drives His every move in our lives.

In Matthew 25:34-45, Jesus talks about the poor and hungry, the lowly and rejected, the imprisoned and the sick. He says that if you have shown mercy to any one of these, it is as if you have shown Him mercy. Why is that? Because God is close to them and waits with them. He feels the struggle with them as if it was His very own stomach waiting to be filled with food or drink or his pain waiting to be healed.

If you are waiting for healing, so is He. Promises to come to pass? Meet a God-fearing spouse? For your children to walk in righteousness? Get a new job? You name it; He’s there.

So, what are the keys to waiting well? Patience. Believing God is with you and continually surrendering your will to His.

I can’t say it will be easy, but I can guarantee it will be worth it. I can’t tell you when things will change; I wish I could – but know that you are not alone. And remember this: God never runs out of strength, and he will fill you up when you feel discouraged and at the end of your rope.

“He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall. But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint” – Isaiah 40:28-31

So when you wait, wait on the Lord. Put your confidence in His goodness and not in your plans. Believe He is present in your every moment. Rely on His timing and trust that He is never late. Time spent with God is time well spent, and time with Him is never wasted.