How to Find Hope in the Waiting

Naomi said, “My daughter, wait until you find out how things go, for he won’t rest unless he resolves this today” Ruth 3:18.

Wait.

Wait has become a dreaded word in our culture. No one wants to wait. Certainly not for long.

If ever there was a reality of we live in a fast food world with a crock-pot God, it would be now.

We all want a quick solution with as little pain and process as possible.

Waiting never looks glamorous or feels glamorous.

No one enjoys waiting. No one wants to just wait and see how things will turn out. And yet Naomi was asking Ruth to do this very thing.

Somewhere along the way we have begun to believe if we do this and this, God will do this and this for us. We say the right prayers, give the right amount of money, and join up with the right people…poof...God does what we ask, when we want.

How do we hold in tension to our promise with the reality of waiting and not seeing progress?

Oh, don’t get me wrong, we serve the God of the impossible. He can redeem and will redeem all. Yet He is sovereign and lives outside our time.

But what do we do when it is not in our time frame? Or when it doesn’t turn out as planned?

Naomi believed that Boaz would move forward. After all her heartache and disappointment she had regained her faith in God her provider….but in His timing.

After you fulfill your responsibility, you must wait in expectant hopefulness for God to carry out His plan.

What do we do when waiting for our Kinsman Redeemer to redeem all that was lost?

Waiting never looks spiritual. Waiting, from the outside looking in, can even seem like we missed the mark. We somehow screwed up and missed God in the midst of this thing we call life.

It’s time for our fairy-tale ending. It’s time for all our dreams to come true. It’s time for all that we asked for to come to pass.

Screaming at God while staring at our watch, knowing there is so much more.

When the results are not what we intended we begin to try harder and condemn ourselves for not getting it right. Or being enough.

Gratitude unlocks our hearts to receive from the Father.

Without gratitude, without finding something to be thankful for, we become calloused to the moving of God. We begin to miss the beauty in waiting.

I want to notice the good. I want to be thankful for all He does in the waiting. Complaining and grumbling will leave us feeling empty every time.

Walking through hurt, confusion, false accusation and shame in the midst of waiting will leave you breathless. Gratitude allows us to be flooded with peace, seeing the working of the Father’s hand in our daily lives

I know how the battles of anxiety, fear, worry, hurt, pain, onslaught your mind during the wait and thus your daily life…and I know the prayers of begging God to move quicker. The heaviness of not knowing when he will move is almost unbearable.

Gratitude becomes our greatest weapon in the waiting….“for he won’t rest unless he resolves this today.”

Thanksgiving arises in knowing God our Protector does not slumber or sleep. Knowing He is working behind the scenes, overflowing with gratitude.

Because the truth is…He is right there with you. By noticing the working of His hand, even in the smallest way, will bring about peace and our mind will begin to rest.

“He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber, Indeed the Protecter will not slumber or sleep. The Lord protects you; the Lord is a shelter right by your side. The sun will not strike you by day or the moon by night.

The Lord will protect you from all harm; He will protect your life. He will protect your coming and going both now and forever” Psalm 121:3-8.

“Wait for the Lord; be strong and courageous. Wait for the Lord” Psalms 28:14.