Deafening silence.
Continual angst about what’s next.
Prayers that seem to fall flat.
Worshiping a God who doesn’t seem to respond.
Walking through a season of life where God just seems silent can be suffocating. The deepest desire of your heart is for God to lead you forward, but he just isn’t.
But take heart. Living in this inbetween and waiting on God is actually a gift to you. Don’t believe me?
Here are 3 Reasons God’s “silence” is a gift.
Waiting Keeps Your Own Ideas from Taking You Down the Wrong Path
Be honest. You are smart enough to come up with a plan for your life and competent enough to accomplish your plans. Waiting keeps you from spontaneously or quickly acting on your own thoughts.
We see this played out in Ruth 3. Ruth is looking for a way to provide for herself and her mother-in-law. Up until chapter 3, Ruth and Naomi have had some good plans and have done an excellent job figuring out the next right thing to do. But then Naomi looks at Ruth and says in 3:18,
“My daughter, wait until you find out how things go, for he won’t rest unless he resolves this today.”
Suddenly, Ruth needs to wait. Her waiting is what stopped her from continuing in her own plan and allowing God to step in, change hearts and circumstances, and resolve the issues needing to be resolved before Ruth and Naomi could find permanent provision.
Waiting got Ruth’s own competence and agenda out of the way and let God bring about the best solution.
Waiting does the same for you. God has a better solution that what you could come up with on your own. Waiting on God let’s HIS path come into view and YOUR path fade into the distance.
Waiting Forces You To Trust In God
As long as life is moving fast and you have a plan, your trust in God is just an intellectual thought. Your trust isn’t being challenged because life is moving along quickly and you’re accomplishing what you like.
But when you’re forced to wait on God, you have to believe, by faith, God will eventually respond and lead you. There’s no other option but to believe, by faith, that eventually God will show you the next thing to do.
Psalm 37:7 states, “Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for him…”
As we learn to be still and expectantly wait for the Lord, when he finally does step in and guide us, the result is a deeper trust in God. We walk out of that situation having experienced a God who is living and active and speaking to his children.
If you had not had to wait, you would miss the working of God. Waiting opens your eyes to the movement of God and helps you believe and trust in deeper ways. This deeper faith bleeds into the rest of your life making every season of “waiting” easier and easier.
Waiting Ultimately Makes Us Happier
Let’s face it. Life is hard. And turmoil and uncertainty are all around us. When we KNOW we have waited on God and he is the one leading us, we can walk through hard times with an assurance that we are following God. That assurance provides a contentment, joy, and happiness that only come from walking with God…regardless of life around us.
Isaiah 30:18 states, “All who wait patiently for him are happy” and it’s not referring to temporary or situational happiness. This verse is talking about the deep down assurance that God is leading you in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.
You don’t get that deep down contentment without waiting on God to lead you.
Because when you walk out of the season of waiting and into the next step God has for you, you can look back with such clarity and focus. You can see those days, weeks, months, years, in the “desert” and notice all God taught you to prepare you for this next step.
So if you’re in the “waiting”, know God is teaching you something. He is preparing you and giving you practice for whatever he has for you in the future. Embrace the waiting knowing that being faithful in the waiting will keep you on God’s path, increase your trust, and make you happier in the end. God has a plan. Don’t rush his timing.
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*Bible Study: Choosing Faith in the Midst of Uncertainty
This is so true! Our family has been in a long season of waiting on God since January, and while our circumstances have recently changed and that season is over, another has begun. And while I’ve lamented so many losses, I’ve also just been able to rest in His love and care for us. He really is a good Father. I feel I have learned a new side of His character through these seasons, and I’m grateful even though it has been really hard. Thanks for sharing.
Waiting is so very hard! I just came out of a season of waiting as well. Waiting definitely makes you learn more of his character!
We are in a season of waiting right now on God’s direction for preparing for retirement. But this isn’t our first experience with waiting on God! What you said is so true. All the other times of waiting have deepened my understanding of Who God is…of His goodness, faithfulness, care, and provision. So I know that He will guide in this, too! Thank you for such a great reminder for me today! Blessings!
I will be praying for you as you wait on God’s direction in preparing for retirement! I’m always amazed at God’s kindness and how he prepares us throughout our lifetime for those future moments where we will need deep faith!
I enjoyed reading your post and couldn’t agree more. When God seems to be silent I know I try all the more to hear Him. It really has a way of forcing you to trust in God and to keep turning to Him until you finally hear Him speak.
Absolutely. Waiting makes me listen more than anything else!
Wow this is so good! I am seeing the rewards of waiting now instead of the pain. Thank you so much! ❤
Oh that is so encouraging! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for sharing your wisdom! I like the section on waiting helps us trust in God…so true! I do not like to wait but have learned some of the richest blessings come after a season of waiting.
So true! I think some of the richest blessings I have had come after a long season of waiting
This statement is great: “Waiting on God lets HIS path come into view and YOUR path fade into the distance.” I’ve found that waiting on God is something we have to cultivate into daily living. Great post!
Thank you!
It’s always been the hardest thing for me to do – wait. I always want to be in a state of getting things done. This is a good reminder of how important it is to find rest in Him through quietness and trust.
Waiting has always been so hard for me as well! It’s always good, but always hard
Amen! Waiting on God is never a waste of time.
Waiting for God is always the best thing. Even when we won’t understand. He always has the Best for us
Amen!