“Why do we have to wait so long to get on the plane?”, Elliott asked impatiently…again. We were headed home from our recent vacation and had been placed in the last boarding group because of some last-minute flight changes. On all our other flights on this trip we had been placed in earlier groups, so an expectation had been formed in my son’s heart. We should be on that plane already.
And isn’t this the difficulty with waiting? Managing the expectations that have been formed in our hearts?
“I should be married already. ALL of my friends are married.”
“I should be making more money than this. I’ve given everything to this company.”
“I shouldn’t be sick. I eat well and exercise.”
“I should be pregnant by now. We’ve been trying for years.”
“We’ve been married for so long…I don’t think he will ever change.”
“I’m so sick of being heart-broken over this. I’ve prayed all the prayers I can pray.”
That last one is mine. It was my own confession a few weeks ago. I’ve been waiting for God to heal my broken heart and up until recently, I felt like I should be over it. I had cried all the tears I wanted to cry over this.
But God. Despite my obstinance, He wasn’t through collecting my tears. During a recent church service learning about the ministry of Jesus to heal the broken hearted, I could no longer contain my tears. God still had some healing to do. He was still mending and though I had tried to convince myself otherwise, I was still hurting.
During my single years when I grew impatient, waiting for God to give me my husband-to-be, He instead gave me this Word to stand on.
“But those who wait on 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.”
Isaiah 40:31
Did you catch that? Those who wait on the Lord…
Not…
“Those who wait on a husband…a child…a job…an answered prayer…”
No. Those that wait on Him.
Waiting on Him renews our strength and enables us to endure the hard seasons of waiting without weariness and without unsteadiness. If we aren’t waiting on Him, our focus will only be on our prayer being answered and if that season of waiting is a long one, maybe years or decades, we will certainly grow weary and unsteady. What we need more than our prayers being answered, is to be in communion with the one who answers our prayers.
I learned in that season and was gently reminded in this season that when we wait on the answer to our prayers only, when the answer comes, we only get the answer. But when we wait on Him and the answer comes, we get the answer and the answer-giver. Some of the most meaningful times I’ve had with Jesus were during seasons of waiting because I was waiting on Him. And with Him. And it’s what I’m doing now as I wait for Him to mend my broken heart.
“What if my answer never comes?”, you ask. It might not, but if you’re waiting for Him, you’ll have Him no matter what. And He’s all you really need.
We want to thank Amber Curry for sharing this post.
Women's Ministry 