A Note from Kelly King: Many people have a “word” for their year. If I had to pick a word for 2017, it would be “trust.” Why? The past several months have been a season of waiting, and with waiting, trust must follow. Lean into today’s article by Bobi Ann Allen and be encouraged in whatever season of “wait” you are experiencing.
In a society of instant messaging and microwavable meals, waiting isn’t easy. It isn’t so much the wait in line at the store or at the bus stop for a ride that difficult. It is the wait for God’s timing.
It is the wait for a spouse, a baby, a job promotion, or the next season of life.
Waiting is hard. Yet, as followers of God, we are called to wait—to follow and not to run ahead. Experiencing deep spiritual fulfillment requires trusting God and His timing.
Here are four ways to learn to trust God while you wait:
1. Know who you are putting your trust in.
It’s hard to trust someone you don’t really know.
- Take time to make a list of who you already know and (really believe) God to be. Don’t include an attribute or character of God that you aren’t certain of; this is for your benefit not a test you have to pass!
- Make a second list of who you need God to be for you RIGHT NOW as you walk through anxiety.
- Explore who the Bible says God is.
- Evaluate and analyze what characteristics of God make Him capable to handle and understand your anxiety.
2. Trust in His dreams for you.
Waiting involves a dream or longing in our hearts that hasn’t yet come to fruition. Have you asked yourself what God dreams for your life? Have you asked God what He dreams for your life? God has some big dreams for your life. He really does.
God is unfolding His dreams for you with every altered plan or slow in progress. We need to let go of our plans and our time tables and realize God is still very much at work, and we are still very much part of His plan.
God wants to make changes in our hearts and ready others for what He’s doing. When He gets all the pieces in place, and we show up transformed and ready for the realization of His dream for us, it will make more sense and fall into place.
Being a dreamer is fun and honors God but only if we let God be in charge of unfolding the dream.
3. Be Thankful Through the Journey.
When we see the same amazing things every day, we eventually stop noticing them. When we stop noticing, we quit being thankful for them. When we stop thanking, we start complaining.
It is easy to forget to be thankful. And because it’s easy to forget, we have to be extra careful to remind ourselves to be grateful for all the things God has given us.
Saying “Thank you” to God is an important aspect of waiting.
4. Notice God at work in the Tiny.
As you seek the adventure of God’s plan for your life, you discover it is in the insignificant and small where God shows up and moves in powerful ways. There is a sweetness as we look back and remember His faithfulness and delight in God’s presence in the small.
So, what are you waiting for? The reality is that we are all “waiting” on something. The ache of our hearts longs for God to fulfill our deepest wants.
Bobi Ann Allen is a pastor’s wife, mom, and ministry leader. She is the author of the Jesus, Our Joy Bible Study and the Home Family Devotional. Raised in a small east Texas town, Bobi Ann now calls central Texas home. A graduate of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary with a master’s degree in Christian education, Bobi Ann has also served on church staff ministering to women. She finds her greatest passion in ministry to be opening the Word with women and allowing the Holy Spirit transform hearts—including her own. She spends her days folding underwear, unloading the dishwasher, and hunting for her people’s lost stuff. You can find more from Bobi Ann on her website, bobiann.com, and by following her on Instagram @bobiann.
