Waiting on God always seems easier when you have stability, money in your pocket, friends, and a foreseeable outcome for the future. These are the moments when you sing about waiting on God with a smile on your face. These are also the moments when you pick a memory verse and just believe because you “feel” hopeful. On the contrary, everyone’s process in waiting on God isn’t the same.
Can I be honest? Waiting on God can seriously suck. If you’re in a season where God seems to be intentionally silent about where you are going, I know exactly how emotionally traumatizing that can be. Thankfully, our emotions do not diminish the nature of God.
God is sovereign. God is perfect. God is always on time… in HIS timing.
The beautiful thing about being apart of the body of Christ is the community of believers that you’re born into. There is such a security that comes with feeling like you belong to a community. But trust me, it’s not always this simple.
If you have an ounce of discernment, you already know that a plethora of shenanigans can happen within community - especially communities of faith. Pride, envy, jealousy, misunderstanding, gossip, slander, sabotage, ruin, betrayal, schemes, discord, factions always find their way into the most anointed groups. Why? Everyone has issues.
Allow me to reference the story of Job holistically. This man lost EVERYTHING. In the book of Job, apart of him is waiting on God to respond and the other part of him is suffering because of what God allowed. When we evaluate the dire nature of his situation, it’s clear that Job could benefit from the wise counsel of his friends and community, right?
Instead of finding support and love from his friends, he was falsely rebuked. In the midst of the pain he was already experiencing, he now had to find the strength to defend himself from the accusers that he called friends. “The wait” will always reveal your issues with God, your issues with yourself, and also the issues people that have with you.
The amount of false prophetic words and false rebukes that I’ve received are hilarious now, but it was vexing in the beginning. Of course, like Job, I thought seeking counsel was smart at the time. Then when the counsel turned into accusation, I was startled. Most of us have been in this place, and if you haven’t experienced this yet, keep reading.
Subconsciously, I thought I could provoke God to respond, but I now know that God always speaks when he is ready.
If you’ve followed me for even a short amount of time, you know that I believe in the church and the importance of communities of faith. I’m a witness that “the prayers of the righteous avail much (James 5:16)”, but I’m also a witness of people advancing against me to devour my flesh (Psalm 27). The presence of these people groups are inevitable in life and furthermore, both are necessary.
Here’s where I messed up:
I assumed that the gifts of the spirit, that are evident of the lives of some many people, denoted the maturity and ability of an individual to hear God on my behalf without bias, presupposition, competition, selfish gain or projection.
I didn’t need counsel, I needed to wait.
I didn’t need insight, I needed to be content.
I sought counsel because I wasn’t content with God’s silence. I was trying to make sense of it all, but life isn’t like a puzzle that you can sit down on the couch and put together with friends. There are variables, outliners, and unanswered questions that will always be apart of life - and it’s all apart of God’s design.
Subconsciously, I thought I could provoke God to respond, but I now know that God always speaks when he is ready. God can not be bullied into performing through intercession, God is secure in his ways and thoughts concerning us. Here’s the point of it all: the wait isn’t just about getting to the promised place, it’s about the journey. There will be some dark valleys that you may have to go through without reception or visibility. Thankfully, God has already promised to lead us THROUGH the valley - he’s not dropping us off there to die.
Subconsciously, I thought I could provoke God to respond, but I now know that God always speaks when he is ready.
If you make the mistake of leaning too closely on the opinion of people, and not God himself, you’ll waste your strength building a home in the valley instead of using your strength to get to the mountain top.
In Job 42:7, "God looks back over the period of suffering and rebukes Job's three friends:
After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: "My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has."
In other words, it doesn’t matter what was said to you or about you. God has the final say. Don’t get distracted, focus on the journey.
Wait for his word. Wait for his timing. Wait on Him.
Selah.