Hoping and Waiting
Our typical understanding of ‘hope’ is a vague desire that something may happen, but may not, i.e. we are not at all convinced it will come about. ‘Wait’ to us means time just goes by, like waiting for something to happen, with no real expectation that it will happen at all. But the original Greek words used have a totally different meaning: the word used for ‘hope’ more correctly means ‘expectant trust’, while ‘wait’ means ‘to expect fully’. These words are therefore quite similar to ‘faith’, by which we understand ‘reliance, to be convinced of trust, or certainty.’
Psalm 130:5-6 NIV I wait (expectantly trust, NLT ‘counting on’) for the Lord, my whole being waits (expect fully), and in His word I put my hope (expectantly trust). I wait (expect fully), for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.
Isaiah 40:31 But those who hope (expectantly 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.
Romans 8:25 But if we hope (expectantly trust) for what we do not yet have, we wait (expect fully) for it patiently.
In His time
God has a perfect time for everything, and we need to learn to trust Him. In Psalm 31 David cries out to the Lord in deep anguish to protect him from his enemies, and affirms that he trusts in the Lord only, and in that his life – his ‘times’, are in the Lord’s hands. Sometimes, we just have to wait for the Lord’s timing, and to keep our eyes on Him. Jesus understood God’s timing – see John 7.
Psalm 31:15 My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me.
Isaiah 64:4 For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him!
Waiting for God
Hearing from God is the first step. The next is to know when to move – it is one thing to hear; it is another to know when to act. Waiting for the Lord to move – to answer a prayer, to fulfil a prophetic word, to bring healing, to change a circumstance in one’s life, to save a loved one or for any other reason can be a daunting task. We need to understand that the Lord has His own divine timing – He is not unable to hear us, or insensitive to our prayers and to our requests. There may well be a bigger picture we that we are part of but unaware of, and in addition the Lord may actually be doing something in us. So it may be that we are not waiting for Him to decide whether to answer us; He is actually waiting for some other circumstance to come into align.
There is typically a delay, a waiting period, between the receipt of a prophetic promise and the actual manifestation of it. Sometimes the promise has to die – to lay dormant, for a period. In this period we all need to keep our faith and to keep trusting. The life of Joseph is an example of this.
Psalm 37:5 Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you (KJV ‘bring it to pass’).
In many cases in the Bible we see that the Lord only moved – the miracle was performed – at the last moment. A prime example is when Moses had led the Israelites out of Egypt and now they faced the Red Sea in front of them with the Egyptian army bearing down on them from behind. There was nothing they could do of themselves – they needed a miracle, and the Lord supplied it by parting the sea for them to cross, and then closing it to drown the Egyptian army behind them. Everyone had to acknowledge that this was and could only have been a miracle – and the Lord received the glory due to Him. See Exodus 14 and especially verses 4, 18 and 31.
God waiting for us
It may also be that that the Lord is waiting for us to mature in some way, to be ready for Him to raise us up, to do the works that He has planned for us.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Remember that the Lord is more concerned with what we have become, than what we have done: the works that we do are the outcome of who we are.
John 15:5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.
A time of preparation
Waiting can also be a test, and a test can be one of the strongest tools to build character and faith, and to ensure that, in the end, God is given the glory He deserves. There are many examples of this in the Bible – of God taking His time to prepare His servants and to ensure that they are ready for the great works He has planned for them. Those who do wait experience God’s deep work in their lives and are rewarded.
Abraham waited for decades, Moses had to wait 40 years, Joseph had to wait for 13 years while Naomi waited 10 years. Those who do not wait for the Lord’s timing and His perfect plan move ahead of the perfect plan often birth “Ishmaels.” Abraham had to learn this lesson when he did not wait for Isaac from Sarah but took Hagar, an Egyptian servant, and Ishmael was the result. Joshua learned this when he made a hasty covenant with the Gibeonites. There are countless others who could not wait, such as King Saul, when he decided to offer the sacrifices instead of waiting for Samuel.
Learning to wait patiently
We all need to learn to wait. Children who are given everything they want, as soon as they ask, or even without their asking, typically grow up to be spoiled brats, and into self-centred, lazy and self-centred adults. Waiting develops character. We are not born with patience – it is something we have to learn and to develop. God wants us all to grow and to become mature – this takes time, obedience and perseverance.
Patience is the ability to endure difficult circumstances such as delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. It involves maintaining calm and composure in the face of adversity or when waiting for something to happen. The word “patience” comes from the Latin word “patientia,” which means “suffering” or “endurance” (Oxford Dictionary). Key aspects of patience are resilience, the ability to endure hardships and difficulties without giving up, tolerance, the capacity to accept delays and troubles without becoming anxious or losing hope, and self-control, the ability to control oneself and not to act foolishly or unwisely.
In his letters, Paul repeatedly refers to the virtues of patience and endurance – amongst many others, as does James.
2 Corinthians 6:6 We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love.
Galatians 5:22-23 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
Colossians 1:11-12 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tender-hearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
A time of testing
Just as waiting can be used to develop spiritual maturity, and so can troubles and hardships, which are even referred to as ‘times of testing’. Hardship can also teach us faith – to rely on God instead of on ourselves or on anyone else. See e.g. 2 Corinthias 1:9.
Romans 8:24-5 We were given this hope when we were saved. If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.
Romans15:4 Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.
James 1:2-4 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
2 Timothy 3:10 But you, Timothy, certainly know what I teach, and how I live, and what my purpose in life is. You know my faith, my patience, my love, and my endurance.
Titus 2:2 Teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely. They must have sound faith and be filled with love and patience.
James 5:10 For examples of patience in suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
A season of waiting
Ecclesiastes 3:1 For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven….
There are various times or spiritual ‘seasons’, such as of preparation, of growth, of harvesting and of revival, which can and do apply to all of us, both individually and corporately. There can also be a season of just waiting, when nothing seems to be happening, and when God does not speak directly to us anymore, or to answer our prayers. It is a time of divine realignment.
This is not a time of judgment, and God is not angry with us. As one author prophetically put it; “This is a season for deepening the roots of prayer and faith. It is not a comfortable place, and you will find yourself often crying out to Me ‘you must do something!’ while I am saying, ‘be still and know that I am your God’ and elsewhere, “there is an authority that comes with anyone who chooses to trust Me in the dark places. It is rare that I find a son or daughter willing to wait for My perfect timing. Accept My grace for this season, My son. You will not regret it.” (Os Hillman).
It is a time of learning to trust in God’s character, despite the unpleasant surrounding circumstances, and of deeper prayer and increased faith and trust in the Lord.
Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honoured by every nation. I will be honoured throughout the world.”
Matthew 28:20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
1 Samuel 22:1 So David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. Soon his brothers and all his other relatives joined him there.
‘Adullam’ means ‘justice’ and ‘refuge’ or ‘retreat’, so it is a place of refuge and transformation, where David found strength and support during his time of distress. Physically it served as a place of refuge for David when he was fleeing from King Saul, and spiritually as a place of transformation and preparation – a place where he found strength and renewed his faith in God. David’s experiences in the cave are reflected in Psalms 57 and 142 where he expresses his distress and his trust in God’s deliverance.
Note that the Lord can also use times of hardship to advance our spiritual maturity.
1 Peter 1:6-7 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold – though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honour on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
What can I do?
Are you in a ‘holding pattern’ – going around in circles where nothing seems to be happening and you remain stuck in the same place, and the Lord will not tell you why or when it will end? One can pray and fast and ask God to move and to change the circumstances, but it might just be more beneficial to pray to God and to ask Him to help mature you so that you will be fully prepared for when the circumstances do finally change. Knowing when to do something is just as important as knowing what to do. We may have received a prophetic promise from the Lord regarding what we would do or become, like Abraham, Joseph or David, but the challenge is to wait on the Lord for its fulfilment, in His time.
What not to do
God promised Abraham that he would have a son and that he would be the father of many nations. However Abraham panicked when Sarah grew beyond child bearing years and tried to help God by birthing Ishmael through Sarah’s servant, who was not the promised son. Eventually Isaac, the promised son, was born to him and Sarah.
When God’s vision is finally birthed, nothing will stop it. Our job is to allow God to birth His vision through us His way and in His timing. Never try to help God fulfil His word.
Use your time wisely
Psalm 39:4-5 “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered – how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.”
Acts 20:24 But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus ….
Conclusion
Start each day by thanking God for all His promises and His faithfulness to fulfil them in His time. Ask Him to guide you daily in accomplishing the plans He has ordained for you. Set your heart to seek His face and to delight in Him as you wait.
Psalm 27:13-14 Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Wait patiently (expectantly trust), for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.
Dr Brian Drury