Looking for benefits of waiting upon the Lord? Here are a few to keep in mind.
In today’s world, we have become so accustomed to being able to speed up most processes, that we have all but forgotten the benefit of waiting.
Though it is a lot easier, and more desirable to want and receive something quickly.
There is a greater sense of value attached to things that we have waited patiently for. When it comes to waiting on the Lord, it is even more true.
In a way, it is similar to working for something. Everyone knows the saying that we appreciate and take care of things that we have worked for.
At least most of the time. There is a sense of appreciation because a lot of patience, sweat, tears and hard work went into it.
Whether that is a certain skill, marriage, a home or a car. We seem to hold it in greater esteem and attach more worth to it because it costs us something.
When it comes to waiting on the Lord, most often when we are waiting for a prayer to be answered or a situation to be changed, our patience is often tested.
Though this may seem like a negative thing for us at the moment. There is significant value in having both our faith and our patience tested.
It is important to mention that the kind of waiting that involves waiting on God isn’t the sort of passive waiting or patience required in line at the doctor’s office, or in line at a store.
Instead, when scripture instructs us to wait on the Lord (the word wait appears 139 times in scripture) it is speaking of intentional, active endurance.
The best example I have heard of this is that this kind of patience is the quality that helps you to finish a marathon.
If you are in a waiting season, there are many benefits of waiting on the Lord.
Even if you aren’t waiting for anything in particular, there will always come times that require us to wait on the Lord.
Here are a few reasons to encourage you when you are struggling to wait on the Lord.
You Learn That He Is Faithful
2 Timothy 2:13
“If we are faithless,
he remains faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.”
I have to start with this one, not at all in a cliche manner, but because it is absolutely true.
Even if you can’t seem to hold onto any other reason, the fact that God is faithful and that His character is unchanging and can be trusted, is something that every believer can cling onto even in the harshest of circumstances.
He is faithful first and foremost to Himself. This means that He does not go back on His word, or act outside of His character.
Secondly, He is faithful to those who love Him. It is important to remember that this does not mean a pain free or discomfort free life.
The reality is that we are fallen people, living in a fallen world, however, the good news is that we have a God who has overcome both the fallen world, and the condition that has caused us to fall, namely sin.
Even when we are experiencing trials, we can cling to His faithfulness to be with us.
He Builds Your Character
Romans 5:3-5
“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;”
“perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
“And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
Though it is a hard pill for most to swallow, the truth is that God is not concerned for our happiness as much as He is for our holiness.
Whenever we think of happiness, which is an emotion that is dependent on our circumstances, we think of “good” comfortable, and pleasing circumstances.
I don’t mean to say that God desires for us to be miserable, certainly not.
But His desire for us reaches beyond fleeting happiness. He desires for us to experience true joy.
Joy outlasts our circumstances and even gives us strength in them. When we wait on the Lord, it is an opportunity for God to make us holy, and to develop our character.
God uses trials to both test our faith and sharpen our character.
When you are going through a waiting period, it can be easy to look at what you don’t have or the circumstances that you are currently in.
It can become all-consuming, if we’re honest. But God gives us eyes to face those times with a different perspective.
We can find joy in those times, knowing that as we trust in God, and wait on Him, He is growing us in patience, character, and hope.
You Learn To Place Your Hope In God
Hebrews 10:23
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
There is nothing like a circumstance that we have little control over that reveals where our hope and trust lies.
There are times when we wrongly place our hope in a circumstance turning out a certain way, or in others coming through for us.
At other times we place our hope and trust in ourselves and in our own understanding.
The good news is God gives us grace when we confess that our hope has been misplaced.
But not only that He helps us to place our hope in Him, when we are faced with times of wait.
When everything is stripped away, and there is just you and God, it is all up to you whether you will lean on God and hope in Him, or turn away to other devices.
When you wait on God, you realize that He is the one who is ultimately in control. You may try, but you cannot outrun Him, or outwait Him.
Waiting on God serves as a reminder that He is sovereign over all things, including your life.
This means that you don’t have to be in a rush for something if it is His will for you.
It takes a lot of pressure off of yourself, when God gives the humbling reminder that His time and ways are not our time and ways. They are much better.
I hope that these benefits of waiting on the Lord will give you a newfound courage, strength and hope as you wait on Him.
May you see His faithfulness, grow in character and find your hope in Him alone.