Purpose in the Waiting / Guest Post by Rachel Shaw

Waiting.

Have you found yourself recently in a season of waiting? Maybe you are waiting on an open door or job opportunity. Maybe it’s the desire to be married or to have healing from an injury or sickness. You’ve continued to seek, pray, and ask, but still nothing has changed. You might have asked why God has not answered your prayer.

Is there purpose in the waiting?

One of my first seasons of waiting came the fall after I graduated high school. I had just ended a toxic relationship that spanned over several years and, as a result, brought great heartache. I also walked away from a cheerleading scholarship that would have paid my full college tuition (you can imagine the turmoil my parents were going through). I was feeling lost and confused. How did I end up here?

At a young age, I had accepted Christ and was raised in a godly home with parents who loved Jesus. However, I had allowed so much of the world to disciple me about love, purpose, and value through music, movies, and my peers. In many ways, I thought and looked just like the world. As the late theologian Voddie Baucham has said, “We cannot continue to send our children to Caesar for their education and be surprised when they come home as Romans.” I had unknowingly become Roman.

As the fall was coming to an end, I was feeling broken with no direction. I had been reaping the fruit of what the world had offered (Galatians 6:8). I desperately needed the Lord. Even over the fruitless and often shameful years, I knew He had never left me. As His Word says in 2 Timothy 2:13, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful—for He cannot deny Himself.” The Lord was bringing me to a place of confession and repentance while drawing me back to Himself. He had forgiven me.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

I still didn’t have direction because my heart and mind had spent years “set on the things of the flesh” (Romans 8:6). I needed to be renewed and transformed (Romans 12:2) before I would have direction. What appeared as waiting was really God renewing me from the inside out.

I began to seek the Lord by studying and meditating on Scripture. Little by little, God was sanctifying me, starting with my mind. His Word brought truth and healing. It exposed so many of the lies that I had believed for so many years. It brought peace and life where there used to be darkness and shame. It did not happen overnight but took time.

Waiting.

As Paul wrote in Philippians 4:9, it also took practice. Through practicing the daily study of Scripture, my knowledge of who God is began to grow—knowing He is sovereign, He is gracious, He is faithful, He is love, He is long-suffering with us, He is King, and He reigns.

As my knowledge increased, so did my trust in God. I think for most of us it’s hard to trust someone we don’t know. When you come to know God, you love Him. When you love Him, you trust Him. I could trustfully receive what He had next for me, but also accept what He may not give.

In His perfect timing, God did open the next door for me. Through His Word, prayer, and the commitment of my parents, God made a way for me to go to Liberty University (something that had never been on my radar before), where I would go on to meet my wonderful husband and where we still reside to this day.

What are some things we can do while waiting?

First, seek Him. Seek Him not just for His hand but for who He is. As David wrote in Psalm 27:8, “You have said, ‘Seek My face.’ Your face, Lord, do I seek.” How do we seek to know Him? By reading and studying His Word (Psalm 119). Meditate upon who He is—faithful, loving, merciful, holy, gracious, and so much more (Philippians 4:8). Spend time each day alone with Him in prayer. Seek to know Jesus more (John 8:32–33).

Next, trust Him and His timing. I once heard Elisabeth Elliot share in a lecture what she does when she has a great need or desire that has continued to burden her. She said she will physically get down on her knees, cup her hands, and offer it up to God. She surrenders it to Him. Then, when fears or doubts start to arise, she simply tells herself, “Oh no! That is not mine anymore. I have given it to God.” Give it to Him. With confident trust, let us receive what He gives and be willing to lack what He withholds. He is worthy to be trusted.

“You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed upon You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3).

Finally, we obey. Where does God have you today? What has He placed before you right now? Whatever He has given you to do, do it well. Do it faithfully. Do it for His glory.

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

If you are not already, find a place in your church to serve. Is there a mission or someone you know who is in need? Give generously. Luke 16:10 writes, “One who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much.” Be faithful where God has placed you today as He prepares you for the next season.

I want to encourage you today, friend, to wait upon the Lord. God’s Word tells us in Psalm 25:3, “Indeed, none who wait for You shall be put to shame.” Your waiting is not in vain. There is purpose in the waiting. Seek Him. Trust Him. Obey Him.