The Waiting period...

Sometimes, we earnestly pray for a change, for a blessing; we pray to enter into a new season of our lives. In these periods, we are so focused on the new things we would like to have that we get very impatient and frustrated as to why these blessings are not there yet. What we forget is that in everything, when going from a stage to another, there is a waiting period, a transition period. As humans, we all have our flaws and most of the time, we tend to neglect these periods of transition because when we find ourselves going right through these, we feel like stagnating, forgotten by God, not worth it; we feel like a failure compared to the others who are already at the levels we would like to reach.

What we need to remember is that God doesn’t do anything randomly; Proverb 16:33 states that “The lot is cast into the lap, but every decision is from the Lord” (ESV). He knows why everything happens and He plans and prepares the situations and circumstances very much ahead because He cares for us and He wants us to avoid more disappointments over the long run. When we find ourselves at the ground level and we want to reach the next floor, we either take the staircase or the lift; we can’t jump and find ourselves at this next level instantaneously. For the stairs, we need to climb them step by step, for the lift, we need to press the right button and wait. However, our generation has many problems with the concept of waiting; when we are hungry and want to get some food quickly, we can order fast food, if we want to get an item, we can order it online and get it within 24h sometimes, if we want to see or speak to someone, we can video call them right away. It seems like the notions of waiting and time of preparation do not make any sense nowadays and yet, for God, it still does. If we look at the life of David, Samuel anointed him King when He was still a youth, while Saul was ruling the Kingdom of Israel (1 Samuel 16). All these years that he spent keeping his father’s flock and defending them from any wild beast trained him to rely on God and learn some fighting techniques which led him to defeat Goliath. What none of the other strong men of Israel could achieve, David did without any armour nor sword because he waited and was well prepared when the appointed time came (1 Samuel 17). Then, David entered into the service of Saul, he fought on his behalf for the kingdom with great success, causing the jealousy of Saul who sought to kill him. David had to flee from city to city, he had to learn how to rely on God only and how to enquire of Him and ask for the path and direction he had to take every time. This period of transition, hardships and instability also made it possible for him to build this amazing and beautiful friendship with Jonathan, Saul’s son (1 Samuel 18). Also, during these times of trials, David developed his wonderful writing talent; he wrote the Psalms that are now a reference in the Bible, comforting and helping so many people going through any situation in their lives. David went through a lot, but his heart and ways were always honouring God, he never tried to avenge himself or render justice for himself when he had the opportunity to do it with either Saul (1 Samuel 24, 26) or Nabal (1 Samuel 25); he always waited on God. This period of struggle and tribulation equipped him to be the man he was, the great king he was; a man after God’s heart (1 Samuel 13:14). Even though it was very hard for David, he accepted his portion, he accepted to drink from the cup God gave him; without complaining, he waited and trusted in God and was willing to pay the price to finally enter into his inheritance, his blessing.

The example of David shows us that what we need to learn is asking and relying on God more often and trust Him; He wants to teach us patience, wisdom and discernment. He wants to teach us how to make sacrifices and wait on Him only; in Jeremiah 33:3, He says “Call to me and I will answer you, and tell you great and hidden things that you have not known” (ESV). These great and hidden things, this great plan and purpose that He prepared for us (Jeremiah 29:10-14), reaching them and entering into it requires work, it requires many sacrifices, many changes within us to be ready and fully equipped in order to keep them, maintain them, nurture them, and go from glory to glory when God will actually bless us with these. God would sometimes withdraw from us some opportunities, not because He wants us to hurt or feel pain, but actually for our own good, because He knows we are not ready. He wants to prevent us from messing up and failing blatantly. Before anything, we need to learn how to be prepared, how to work on ourselves and actually be ready for these blessings that God has in store for us. Yet, sometimes, we are the limiting factor because we refuse to put in the required efforts in order to evolve, to be better, to be as God wants us to be. Indeed, it may be difficult to get the daily motivation to grow closer to God, to pray and meditate, to read this book, to take this online course, to exercise, to watch this documentary, to write this piece of work, to apply for this course, to apply for this job, to start this project. Nevertheless, we have to do it and draw the energy from God Himself because if we learn how to trust in Him and rely on Him only, the rest will follow; in Isaiah 40: 29-31, it is written that “He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who 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” (ESV). God is the ultimate provider, He is the ultimate healer, our Father who only wants our good and well-being, but we need to do our part in listening to Him and obeying; He said that obedience is better than sacrifices (1 Samuel 15:22), so we should learn how to obey and humble ourselves before him (John 3:30) so that He will take the lead in our lives and fully equip us (2 Timothy 3:17) so as to enter into our inheritance, our purpose, our blessings.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 teaches us that there is a time for everything in our lives, it especially teaches us that there is a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted, a time to break down, a time to build up, a time to tear, a time to sew, a time to weep, and a time to laugh. Gaining more insight, discernment and understanding requires us to ask God to show us these times when we need to plant the seeds for our future, these times when we need to start building up and making sacrifices, these times when we need to wait and be patient, these times when we need to accept to suffer, cry, weep; embracing and welcoming the pain in order to reap what we sowed in its due season, and have the humility to acknowledge that all the good things we have in life come from God, the One who makes everything beautiful in its time (Ecclesiastes 3:11).