Waiting WellSample

When you and I find ourselves staying in the same place until an expected event happens, or until someone arrives, or until it is our turn, we may be in for the spiritual battle of our lives. Because we really don’t know how it’s going to turn out, our thoughts become vulnerable to enemy attack.

We observe Abraham succumbing to such tactics while he waited for God to come through on His promise of an heir. Abraham manipulated the wait time by fathering a child with another wife (Genesis 16:1-4) who was not the child God had promised. The waiting-to-be King David also floundered, escaping to the land of the Philistines, thinking that if he did not, Saul would eventually find and kill him (1 Samuel 27:1). Even King Jeroboam faltered in his waiting by creating his own religious system, surmising that if he did not, people would return to Judah under King Rehoboam, contrary to God’s promise to him (1 Kings 12:26).

Suffice it to say, waiting for God to will and act in our lives is not all unicorns and cotton candy. Extended languishing for what appears improbable is the perfect environment for taking matters into our own hands rather than lifting them up in surrender to His sovereignty.

Marking time in uncertainty is precisely when we must keep our eyes on Christ no matter what happens. It’s here that taking every thought captive and making it obedient to Christ moves our theology into our reality. During the torrents of spiraling doubt, thundering frustration, and piercing divine silence, you and I should focus on what we know.

We cannot be sure what Hannah was thinking as she joyfully journeyed home, but her prayer in the following chapter lends us a clue. She knew the God in whom she believed. Here Hannah expressed gratitude for His power, justice, and His unparalleled goodness.

Like Hannah, you and I do not know for sure how it’s going to turn out. But we can know in whom we have believed (2 Timothy 1:12). We can trust that He has a purpose for our lives (Jeremiah 29:11). We can rest assured that our God is not a quitter. He finishes what He starts (Philippians 1:6). And most certainly, we can know that He is faithful (1 Corinthians 1:8).

It is this knowledge that enables us to get up and move forward while we wait…

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