If you aren’t in a season of waiting, you will be or you recently were. All of us go through them.
Maybe you’re waiting for your husband. Waiting for a dream. Waiting for a child. Waiting for healing. Waiting for a move. Waiting for a promotion. Waiting for a friend.
We can all think of something we’d like to see God do on our behalf—a hope, a desire, a longing. And in that space between our prayer and his answer, we find ourselves waiting.
For some your wait is short, and for others it can make your heart feel sick with hope long deferred.
But our hope is never lost because his love is never deferred. The Bible tells us that hope does not disappoint because we have God’s love in our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:8).
If you feel disappointed and hopeless, if your heart feels sick with longing, can I encourage you today to open your hands and receive the love of our Father?
When we receive it, God’s immeasurable, unfathomable, unconditional love becomes the comfort and security we hold on to in our seasons of waiting.
My husband and I spent nine years waiting to hold our first child. Nine years of longing for what we did not yet have. Nine years of praying for and believing what we had not yet seen come to pass. Nine years of hoping.
One of the greatest battles I faced was recognizing that I’d connected God’s love for me with what he was doing. Or in this case, not doing. To wait for years and years, to get another no over and over again, to watch those around me receiving what I wanted (and admittedly, they didn’t always) felt very unloving.
Here’s the truth. Equating God’s love with my circumstances is a manipulation of who he is. I had to recognize repentantly that I was angry because God wasn’t doing what I wanted. If he loves me so much, why wouldn’t he do this for me? The flip side of that? I was withholding my love because God wasn’t doing what I wanted. Ouch!
You know why I call that manipulation? Because it makes love conditional. If God loves me, he will do this for me. If he does this for me, then I will love him.
Once I recognized that God’s love is unconditional, the power of this truth transformed my life. It still transforms me even now. And it’s a good thing, my friend. I’m so grateful God’s love isn’t based on my performance. At the time, I wanted it to be because it felt like control. If only I could do something, he’d love me enough to answer my prayer. Today I’m so thankful he answered my prayer in spite of any works on my part. He loves me no matter what. And I love him whether he’s answering my prayers today—or not.
He loves you too. Like really loves you. Do you know that? If not, ask God to show you how much he loves you today.
We want to thank Laura Brandenburg for sharing this post.
Women's Ministry 