Waiting on God: Shifting Our FocusShembull

In extended times of waiting on God, we need community more than ever. However, it can be tempting to isolate ourselves from others when we feel distant from God. In isolation, we are prone to worry, despair, and becoming hyper-focused on our own needs.

So how do we avoid the trap of isolation?

We invite others into our waiting. Maybe it is a prayer partner, your small group, or the elders or pastor at your church. Asking others to pray with us in our season of waiting reduces the spotlight shining on us and allows others to speak the Truth into our lives.

The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the church at Philippi, connects the idea of overcoming worry through prayer when he wrote, "Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." (‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭6‬ ‭NRSV) And Proverbs 12:25 says, ‬‬"Anxiety weighs down the human heart, but a good word cheers it up."

As we learn to wait on God - surrounded by the prayer and support of our community - we begin to see the world through a different lens, opening our eyes to see the needs of others more clearly. Truly we begin to shift our focus from ourselves to those around us, leaning into Paul's message in Philippians 2:4 when he said, "Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others."

Soon we realize that we are not alone in our waiting. Others are walking the same path of life, feeling lost in darkness and unsure of their next step on the road of life. Others may be just a few steps behind us in their season of waiting. Is it possible that God might want to use your season of waiting to impact the lives of others in your community? Is it possible that He might want to use your story to guide them into the light that is Christ Jesus?

In this series, we have considered what it might look like to shift our focus as we wait on God. As we resist the temptation to get swept away by the future, we meet God in the present moment, where He is currently at work all around us. However, remaining in the present moment requires that we acknowledge the cultural influence of progress on our lives and our need to practice patience through daily surrender to God's will. And finally, we recognize our dependence on God and our community in times of waiting so that God might do the work in us that only He can do, leading to communal transformation for generations to come.

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