Have you ever waited on the Lord?
Have you ever had to wait longer than you wanted to wait on Him?
Me too.
Sometimes, the best thing you can do as a leader is to just wait. Stand still. Don’t move. Don’t even put your baby toe in the water before the Lord says to move. Waiting is so hard, especially for those of us who lead. Oftentimes, there’s a lot of pressure from others around you to move forward, but if you don’t have the “go ahead” from the Lord, I would encourage you to keep waiting.
In 1 Samuel 13:8-15, Samuel asked Saul to wait until his return to make a sacrifice. What did Saul do? He got impatient and made the sacrifice. What did that mean for Saul? He lost the kingdom.
Talk about a humbling experience… Saul acted out of impatience and selfishness, and look where it got him. He gave away every blessing and opportunity that was his to be had, and it was now about to pass along to David – a man who wasn’t perfect, but who sought God and was a man after God’s own heart.
God gives us instructions, asks for our obedience, and we often aren’t patient enough to see it through. We deny God the opportunity to bless us or to use us because we are impatient and feel like our way will work out better.
Fix your eyes on Jesus and wait. When you’re in a place of leadership, the responsibility level skyrockets because so many women are looking to you for how and when to move ahead. Some women in your church or ministry don’t know what it looks like to wait on the Lord, so model it for them. Explain why you’re waiting and not just plowing ahead. There’s a lot to be learned in the waiting, and you can model it to the women around you as you do just that.
Mary Margaret is an Event Project Coordinator on the Church Education Ministry team at Lifeway. She works alongside Chris Adams and coordinates training events for women’s ministry leaders like YOU Lead and the Women’s Ministry Forum. Mary Margaret has served several churches in the area of Girls Ministry and she recently completed a Master of Arts in Christian Education at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. In her spare time, she writes for Story of My Life – her personal blog.