When the Waiting is Oh-So-Hard to Do
I have asked my friend and ministry partner, the fabulous Bible teacher Wendy Pope to guest post today on the topic of her new book Wait and See: Finding Peace in God’s Pauses and Plans. Her keen insight into trusting God in the wait will encourage you so much! Be sure to read all the way down to the giveaway!
Tweet ThisWendy writes:
A teacher. A wife. A mother. My little-girl heart dreamed of being all of these one day.
With chalk in hand and glasses resting on my nose, I practiced being a teacher with my stuffed animals. Carol Brady of The Brady Bunch taught me all I needed to know about being a wife. Caring for my dolls, as well as my years of babysitting, prepared me for motherhood. When I graduated from high school, I was ready to put my plans in motion.
Becoming a teacher requires four years of college. Graduated. Got a job. Dream came true.
Becoming a wife requires a fella. Found and dated him for two years. Got a husband. Dream came true.
Becoming a mother requires … well, you know what it requires. No details are necessary. After two years of trying, no baby. Dream didn’t come true.
My first two dreams came to pass just as I had planned. However, after the two years of failing conceive, I wondered if I would ever sing the childhood rhyme, “First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Wendy with a baby carriage.” Dream number three required me to wait and see.
You need to know something about me: I have never been a wait-and-see kind of girl. Deep down, I am a hurry-up, right-now, please-and-thank-you kind of gal. The word patient does not describe me—ask anyone who knows and loves me. So you can imagine how well I handled waiting to see my dream of motherhood come true. Waiting dominated my thoughts as it does for most of us when we’re waiting for the fulfillment of our hopes and dreams.
And you? Do you feel the tug of waiting for something but are scared to let yourself dream it will happen? Maybe you are waiting on a miracle. We have all been there—sometimes more often than we prefer. And the miracle requires something of us—waiting.
The desire to be a mother consumed me and my thoughts. Why can’t I get pregnant? What is wrong with me? What have I done to warrant such punishment from God? It seemed my girlfriends were getting pregnant with ease. That just didn’t seem fair, so I determined that God wasn’t fair.
I began to decline invitations to the multitude of blue-and-pink parties. My husband and I purposely socialized with friends who were not expecting or didn’t have children. However, avoiding pregnant friends did not ease my pain or subdue my longing.
What have I done to warrant such punishment from God?
Trying harder didn’t help either. For two years, I ingested fertility pills, endured monthly injections, scheduled intimacy, and charted my basal body thermometer readings every morning at six o’clock. There wasn’t a specialist or a test that could explain why I was unable to conceive.
Medically, I was doing everything right; spiritually, I was not. The wait exhausted my faith.
I resolved that God was mad at me, so I resolved to be mad at Him in return. Maybe you can relate? You still go to church on Sunday but have nothing to do with God on the other days ending in y. We have our plans and want our way. When things don’t happen accordingly, we retaliate by ignoring God. I felt this way for over two years as the object of my wait became greater than the Person of my faith.
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See God’s Goodness in the Pauses of Life
When waiting on God stretches for months or years, we begin to doubt God’s promises. Did I hear You correctly, God? Do You see what I’m going through? Why does this have to be so hard?
In Wait and See, Wendy draws on the life of King David to help us…
- Focus on the Person of our faith rather than the object of our wait
- Use biblical truths to defeat depression, doubt, and discouragement
- Release the hold the past has on us
- Prepare for the future by participating in God’s work in the present
- See the benefit of inviting others into the wait
- View God’s pauses as opportunities to know Him better
- Gain confidence in God’s plans, even during uncertain times
If you would like a chance to win a Wait and See gift pack, which includes a copy of the book, a whimsical beaded bookmark with a butterfly charm, and a hand stamped Don’t Rush the Wait aluminum cuff bangle, simply leave a comment on this post telling us an area where you currently find it hard to wait on God.
{Winner will be randomly chosen and announced Monday the 17th.}
Wendy is the wife of Scott, mother of Blaire and Griffin, author, speaker, and Bible study teacher. She loves lazy Sundays watching golf with her husband, thrift-store shopping with her daughter, and watching building shows with her son.
Wendy is the author of Wait and See. She is a contributing author to the Real-Life Women’s Devotional Bible, Encouragement for Today: Devotions for Daily Living, The Reason We Speak, and God’s Purpose for Every Woman. Wendy writes devotions for Proverbs 31 Ministries’“Encouragement for Today” and is a content provider for the free online devotion app First 5 as well as a member of the Proverbs 31 Ministries speaker team.
She leads women all over the world to life change through her in-depth online Bible studies. She has led thousands of women through her Read through the Word study of the One Chronological Bible. Down-to-earth and transparent, Wendy teaches in a way that women feel she is speaking directly to their hearts.
Waiting is not easy. Isaiah 40:31 just came to me. ” But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”
I’m in a season of waiting that has lasted years. May I praise God and trust Him during this season of my
life!
I am impatiently waiting for relief from financial pressures and my son to give up alcohol and come to the Lord. I am run headlong into the problem without waiting on God kind of person. I long to be a better waiter.
When you live a frantic lifestyle, waiting does not come easy. I am the mother of two football players, wife of a coach, and a teacher and coach myslef. All in this Fall season! Oiy vey!
I struggle with waiting in many ways in my life. Instant gratification, want it now, seems to be the norm when working with the public. God’s time is not measured as ours is, and many days I have a tough time remembering that.
I struggle with the “why me” because of the past few years struggling with my health. I’m having difficulty with wait of why this path, and what’s in store. This will be a perfect read.
I have been in a long season of waiting and praying for God to restore many family relationships. I admit that it has been a struggle not to become weary and lose hope. I’m grateful for the opportunity to possibly receive a gift of encouragement such as this.
I recently quit my job because I was so upset and depressed from it. Now I’m trying to figure out what my next job will be and what God’s calling me to do.
I am currently waiting for my son to find his place in ministry. I thought that once he was grown, I wouldn’t have to wait or worry about him any more, but now it just seems like the stakes are higher.
I can’t wait to read this book. I am currently waiting for God to direct me in my career. I’m so restless and anxious. Not sure if He wants me to stay in my current unfulfilling job that leaves me plenty of time to fulfill other callings or to pursue my desire which would consume a lot more time but be more rewarding.
Praying and waiting for our children to return to our Savior????
Waiting for answers. For God to act-to come through with just the right verse or piece of advice that kisses your cheek with peace. Then you’ll feel like you are ready to take another step toward the curtain as He lifts it…ever so slowly…
I’m waiting on “What’s next.” And I am waiting to see where “I Am” sends.?
I have been experiencing a period of waiting on healing my relationship with my mother. We had a big blowup this past May and all summer I was asking God “why” and praying for wisdom and understanding. Finally at the end of the summer a confrontation pushed us into counseling and I understood that the purpose of the blowup was to get us there. But now I am still waiting to see how our healing will unfold and what sort of relationship we will have in the end. And I am waiting on God to show me how this experience will be purposeful in my future.
I’ve been (im)patiently waitkng for a life partner, a husband, a head of household. I married my exhusband for myself and it wasn’t a Godly relationship (we divorced and he has since passed away), but that was 10 years ago and I’ve been praying and waiting since. I haven’t even felt the Lord to lead me to even date. I see all these people who are always in relationships or who are getting married and I feel so alone. It’s been and is a constant struggle.
My struggle is also related to conceiving. I so need this read.
I was in a horrible auto accident in April 2016. Fortunately I made it through even though the doctors didn’t believe that I would make it. I realize, plus so many people have told me, God spared me for a reason. He’s not finished with me yet. You can’t imagine how impatient I am in waiting for God to show me why He saved me in the accident. I’m ready to know NOW what he has planned for me. This next Bible study can’t come fast enough!!
Waiting on God for the restoration of my sons. I have to keep stopping my thoughts and praying through…handing them back to God.
After enduring so many periods of waiting throughout my life, you would think I would have learned to wait well by now. Sure I have learned and grown through several different trying circumstances but I am struggling with why I am yet again in a season of waiting. The story of Wendy having to wait to become a mother hits home for me in this season.
I am waiting for God to help me find a true friend. I am lonely and have been praying for years for God to have my path intersect with someone I can connect with.
I have been believing for what seems like forever for a husband. I have never been married, am in my 40’s, and some days of waiting are easier than others.
But I know my faithful and more than able.
Thanks for the opportunity.
I am currently ‘waiting’ … patiently I might add … for a clear indication of where God wants to use me in ministry. I have been praying for months and slowly he answers questions, one by one – but I still don’t know my ‘place’. I continue to seek Him and pray constantly about how he will ultimately use me to reach others for Him.
Thanks so much for this opportunity :)
Waiting for and really trusting God to show me where He wants to use me in ministry to women
First of all I love the message of this book! I fail to wait for God’s perfect timing so often because I want my imperfect timing of now. Whether it be the job interviews I’ve had and had no positive outcome or the dreaming of a second pregnancy because I wanted a big family— I fail to be patient and hand it to God. I pray that letting go and letting God will come more easily to me in this season of my life.
Waiting on God in my oldest daughters health and we may not know for a few years as we watch her grow and visit her specialist.
I struggle to wait in this season of uncertainty. I fail to wait for God’s timing and provision.