Waiting rooms, waiting in line, waiting for anticipated news, events, etc…. We as human beings don’t like having to wait. Some of us have a stronger patience than others and some don’t have any at all. We are this same way spiritually as well. It’s hard praying about something and not getting the answer right away. Especially when it’s drawn out for days, months, and even years. In one case, I waited for 7 years before God answered my prayer.

As those seven years of infertility passed, waiting was VERY hard! The amount of emotions I experienced in those seven years was heavy. I know we have all experienced some kind of waiting season in our lives at some point be it in infertility, healing, financial, marriage, jobs, dreams, etc.. Seasons of waiting come and go and vary in time and circumstance.

Currently, I am entering into another season of waiting. Although it is familiar territory, the emotions are vastly different than what I have experienced before. Waiting doesn’t get any easier but it does have a way of making us stronger. This time around, I am able to reflect back on the lessons that God taught me during my last season of waiting. It doesn’t necessarily make it easier but it does help me to navigate through this a little better than before. They say if something seems a little easier than before then that means you must have learned something from it before.

Isaiah 40:31 has been my greatest encourager:

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

God has been teaching me that there are benefits in waiting, especially when waiting on Him. The time spent waiting on Him is never wasted. We may not realize it during but His timing IS Always Best. There’s always a reason, a purpose, and a plan for His timing that we want to refer to as a delay. God is never delayed or late, He just operates on His own timing — not ours.

When we are waiting on Him, it puts us in the perfect spot for Him to work on us. If you allow it to be, your season of waiting is time spent on the Potter’s wheel. The emotions we experience make us more vulnerable to the work He is needing to do on us and in us. The Bible says, “they that WAIT upon the Lord shall renew their strength.” Waiting makes us stronger. Now, if God allows things to happen immediately and there is no waiting, then there would be no opportunity for Him to make us stronger. It brings a whole new perspective when you start thinking that it’s meant to make you stronger, not necessarily to drag you down and make you feel weaker. If that’s the case, then you must realize what II Corinthians 12:9-10 says:

And he said unto me, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

When you are feeling your weakest, that’s when Christ can make you your strongest!

11 Corinthians 12:9-10

Isaiah 40:31 also talks about how “they that WAIT upon the Lord… shall mount up with wings as eagles.“ When you are waiting on God, you’re in a perfect spot for Him to increase your level in Him. A perfect spot for Him to take you higher in Him. In your journey as a Christian, you gain ground in Him by drawing closer to Him, overcoming things, growing closer, achieving higher levels in Him if you will. If you’re in a season of waiting, He wants to take you higher in Him. To soar above the distractions and “fly” higher through Him.

The last portion of Isaiah 40:31 talks about running and walking. I don’t know about y’all, but I’m not in any physical shape to be able to go for an extended run or even walk a marathon. I could, but I would be so weak, struggling to reach the finish line, and would probably collapse and have to tap out. But God’s word is saying, “they that WAIT upon the Lord… shall run, and not be weary… shall walk, and not faint.” How this has been speaking to me is this: God’s gonna give me the tenacity to keep going even when I don’t feel like I can. He wants me to move along in my journey with Him. He doesn’t want me to become stationed and complaisant. He wants progress, not regression.

God wants progress, not regression.

All of this is the benefits in waiting. Waiting is never wasted. As frustrating as it can be, if I’m in a season of waiting, then God must be needing to work on me. Honestly, it comforts me to know that I am still a work in progress. I still have enough of a pliable life left that I’m a candidate for upkeep. I don’t want to become a stale or obsolete Christian. I much rather want to be a work in progress.