While we are waiting on God’s timing for our heart’s desires, there are some very real and sometimes difficult requirements of waiting. I have found in my own personal waiting, that I have come across five:
1. Faith
Isaiah 55:8-9 makes it very clear that God’s ways and timing are not a thing like ours. Often, from our very human perspective, God’s timing is not what we expected, when we expected it, or quite honestly, what we would like. But His love for us is boundless, and because of that, we can trust that His timing is perfect.
2. Humility
To wait for the Lord’s very best requires humility as we acknowledge that He knows what we need far better than we ever could. And it gets kind of hard to charge ahead with our own plans in mind when we are fully surrendered to His plans for our lives.
3. Patience
Waiting on God, and for His perfect timing, requires a super human patience. (I keep looking for my Super Girl patience cape to help me out with this one, to no avail.) However, when we ask for it, God gives us the strength to stay when we want to go, and helps us grow and stretch into a patient person that we just may not recognize when the process is done.
4. Courage
Who would have thought that waiting takes courage? But it absolutely does, and it requires it in abundance. When those around us are pressuring us to move on, to act, to give up dreams, to let go, courage helps us stick to what we know is God’s chosen path for us. And the hardest valleys we encounter in our own doubts, questions, and fears, when all seems beyond bleak and dark, require an even deeper courage.
5. A Thick Skin
And lastly, I have found that waiting requires a thick skin. Sometimes strangers, friends, and even family may have the best intentions when they are talking to us and trying to encourage us in our periods of waiting, but they can say things that just bring us to our knees. And sometimes, the most innocent of statements from a well-meaning person, can be what Satan uses to hit straight to our hearts.
Waiting is for Warriors. It requires Faith, Humility, Patience, Courage, and a Thick Skin. So, let’s put on our armor of God and stay strong in the battle until the war has been won. And it will be won.
Patiently Waiting on God 