It’s the first week of our NEW series, I’m Waiting, God! Welcome to our new Happy Monday, friends - we’re glad that you’re here. For the next four weeks, we’re tackling one of our toughest faith challenges: How do we trust God and hold onto hope when we’re waiting for an answer to our prayers? Today’s Happy Monday gives voice to the hard questions that we ask when God seems silent. I also share the foundation needed if you want to wait well on God.
HARD QUESTIONS HOVERING IN OUR WAITING ROOMS
Spiritually, waiting is the gap between when we pray and when we see or sense God’s answer to our prayers. Our level of patience in a waiting room - meaning our mindset or attitude - determines how peaceful or painful our waiting room season will be. It’s common for uncomfortable, even desperate questions to surface in our minds. Sometimes we don’t want to admit we’re asking these questions, but they can scream in our consciousness. Questions like:
God knows how much this means to me, so why is He taking so long?
I know that God can honor this deep desire of my heart, but will He?
Why did God answer her prayer before mine?
What if God’s will is different than mine? Will I be okay if God says “No”?
I’ve been waiting for so long. Has God closed the door or said no?
If these questions have crept into your mind, you aren’t alone. There’s a slogan, “Sometimes, we need to say the quiet parts out loud.” Often, we keep those hard questions secret because we don’t want others to think that we’re questioning God or that we have weak faith. But it’s okay for us to ask hard questions and to tell God how hard waiting is.
REMEMBERING THE GOD THAT WE’RE WAITING FOR
When God seems silent, especially for a long time, we may begin to speculate about why God hasn’t answered our prayers. Or we decide we need to take our faith more seriously. So, we double down on praying more, reading the Bible, or attending church. We worry that God won’t answer unless we show Him that we’re serious about Him.
While increasing our time in God’s presence or soaking ourselves in God’s Word definitely can bless us in our waiting seasons, God isn’t waiting for you to prove that you’re a better Christian before He answers your prayers. Honestly, how many times has God blessed you even though you weren’t faithful or you struggled to believe? We cannot control how or when God answers our prayers. When we feel like we need to convince God to answer our prayers, that actually makes us feel like God isn’t for us - that He doesn’t care about our prayers.
Like many of you, I’m waiting on God to answer some big prayers - for prodigal loved ones and for a deep desire in my heart. I’ve been in my waiting room season for years, and honestly, I could be there for many more. On the days when my heart is extra heavy with the task of waiting, I begin to walk myself through shifting my focus from what I’m waiting for to Who I’m waiting with. When I focus on waiting with God, I see Him before I see my situation.
- CLING TO GOD’S CHARACTER, NOT YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES.
Sometimes, we’re so afraid or desperate that we forget the heart of God. We fall into the habit of praying “Fix it, God” or “Hurry up, God.” We lose sight of God’s character and the fact that God wants the very best for you and me. Here’s one of those reminders of the God that sits with us in our waiting room.
But you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
-Psalms 86:15 NLT
Look at the underlined words. Which one of those words or phrases feels farthest away from you? Which one comforts you? For me, faithfulness is the word that comforts me. I have journals filled with the records of God’s constant dependability. Even when things haven’t turned out as I’d hoped, He has been faithful. (I've included a breakdown of each word in Psalm 86:15 in the pink box at the end of this devotion.)
2. TELL YOUR FEARS ABOUT GOD
Recently, I released a Bible study on prayer, titled Matthew: Pray Like This, about centering God in our prayers rather than our problems. One of the things I like to say is this: Sometimes we need to spend more time telling God our problems instead of endlessly telling God about them.
"Talking your problems about God" means that you speak God's truth to your fears. For example, you can tell your fears, “Listen, you try to tell me lies, but God has been faithful and He won't fail me.”
3. BELIEVE THAT GOD WANTS HIS BEST FOR YOU
Do you believe that? It’s okay if you don’t right now. My only ask is that you stick with me during this series, even if your heart is closed off to Him right now. I know you might be afraid that God won’t answer in time or that His answer might be different from yours. He knows your deep fears. At the same time, when we remember God’s character from Psalm 86:15, then we can see that God sees you, He is with you, and even if it doesn’t feel like it right now, God wants what is best for you and those that you love.
COMING NEXT WEEK! Next week, we’ll talk about our struggles with God’s timing and how His timeline is almost always way slower than we’d like.
I’D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU: If you need a reminder of God's heart and character, leave a comment with a “🩷." If you'd like to share more, tell me which aspect of God’s character in Psalms 86:15 means a lot to you today.
