Bible reading: James 1:2-4 (AMP)
“Consider it nothing but joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials. Be assured that the testing of your faith [through experience] produces endurance [leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace]. And let endurance have its perfect result and do a thorough work, so that you may be perfect and completely developed [in your faith], lacking in nothing.”
I wrote a post three years ago discussing what to do while waiting on the Lord (Titled-The right attitude while waiting on the Lord, in case you are interested in checking it out). But as I find myself currently waiting on the Lord, I felt compelled to revisit this topic and share my experience as it might help others in a similar situation. Throughout this period of waiting for a particular need, I have gone through a rollercoaster of emotions that looks something like this:
- Month 1: I started the month with great faith, prepared to wait on the Lord for however long it took because I believe His will and timing for my life are the best.
- Month 2: My faith in God started to weaken as time went on. However, after receiving encouragement from my family, my faith was strengthened.
- Month 3-6: This was a period of excitement because of an update that made it seem like the wait was finally over, but it fell through in the end.
- Month 7 (current month): I tried to encourage myself in the Lord (like David did in 1 Samuel 30:6), but my disappointment got in the way, and I started to feel forgotten by God. I asked God why He was making me wait so long, and later that day, as I watched the last episode of The chosen (I HIGHLY recommend that show), I got the response to my question in James 1:2-4. God was making me wait as long as I was, not because He abandoned me, but to strengthen my faith in Him.
Through this experience, I learned that God allows us to go through challenging times for a season so that we can grow as Christians. Just as new challenges at work make us better employees, going through trials on our spiritual journey strengthens and enables us to have unwavering faith in God, especially when things are not going the way we want. The reality is that to become mature Christians, we have to prepare to go through trials. However, God is with you every step of the way, giving you the grace to keep going.
So if you are in a season of waiting on the Lord for a job, child, good health or anything else, know that He has not forgotten you, but rather He may be testing your faith for a season, and in the end, it will all make sense.
2 Corinthians 12:8-9(CEV) “Three times I begged the Lord to make this suffering go away. But he replied, “My gift of undeserved grace is all you need. My power is strongest when you are weak.” So if Christ keeps giving me his power, I will gladly brag about how weak I am.”
Psalm 37:5 (TPT) “Give God the right to direct your life, and as you trust him along the way, you will find he pulled it off perfectly!”
Check out this encouraging song: Firm foundation- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijbhz0ORhqk
