Waiting on God

“How long will I have to wait?” Mike asked Joe frantically…

He was too nervous to sit still. He had been waiting for a feedback about his presentation for over an hour and he was beginning to get impatient.

Joe replied him with a smile on his face; “Guy, calm down, you didn’t think you were going to get to this point in the first place, did you? I’m sure they are just trying to ensure everything is in place and the contract is properly documented before you sign it”.

Mike turned around, he had a look of joy mixed with uncertainty on his face and without saying a word, he kept pacing.

Michael had been bidding for a contract for almost 2 years at Joe’s company. If the contract goes through, it will be the breakthrough he had been waiting for all the while for his own business. He runs an interior decoration company and desperately needs this to work. He had been applying and gotten rejected over and over again. However, he didn’t give up hope because he believed that all they needed was just to see his proposal and they will know the value he’s about to bring to the table. Luck shone on him on the day of his last rejection, when Joe, the PA to the company’s MD who was in a rush for a meeting bumped into him spilling his cup of coffee and soiling a part of the portfolio of his designs for the contract proposal. You would have expected him to get furious because he had just been disappointed again; but Mike kept his cool. While he was trying to get himself together to save what was left of his proposal, Joe spotted one of the designs; collected his contact, apologized for his action and went away.

Mike had totally forgotten about that incident until one morning when his phone rang and on the other line was Joe, who asked him a life changing question; ‘do you still want the contract?’ Apparently, Joe went ahead to do a research about Michael due to how composed he was even after the coffee situation. He realized the young man could be a good fit for their rebranding project after all. Joe mentioned Mike to the MD who caught a glimpse of the proposed design and agreed to meet him.

So, here he (Mike) is, in the waiting room after an amazing presentation, totally nervous about the outcome and the time was moving slower than a pregnant snail. After what felt like eternity, he got the contract and the rest, they say, was history.

Why the long story, you may ask? Well, let me ask you a question. Have you ever had to wait on something or someone and the uncertainty of the outcome of your waiting puts you in a place of despair? More so, it looks like you are waiting in vain as so much time has passed and a lot of people are mocking you for the hope you have in what you are waiting for.

How about waiting on God? Has he given you a promise that is taking longer than usual to come to pass and you are wondering if it was truly a promise or a mind game or He was just messing with you or you didn’t hear well? You’re not alone, I’ve been there.

Here is a thought; maybe, what the Bible refers to as waiting on God is a process of pruning, reforming and preparing you for the next phase or for that expectation. But I know this for sure that until you are ready, what you are waiting for might never come to pass.

What does it mean to wait?

To wait is an action of getting ready for something to happen; an action, in readiness for your expectation. It does not indicate a time frame or limit, which simply suggests that if you have an expectation, until it comes to pass; you are expected to wait on it. Waiting on God, therefore, is a process of believing God for a desire, trusting him to be able to perform it according to the promise from his word and rejoicing in hope until you see the fulfilment of that promise.

Are you like Mike, pacing and unsettled because your expectation is taking longer than expected and you are beginning to get tired? Don’t! Instead, activate your waiting process so that you can receive the desires of your heart and much more.

The idea of waiting has little to do with time but a whole lot to do with readiness, growth and positioning; so, giving up is not an option. Giving up is not going to bring you your expectation but staying on with the right attitude will.

“But those who wait for the LORD’s help find renewed strength; they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings, they run without growing weary, they walk without getting tired.”

Isaiah 40:31 NET

This tells us that when we wait on the Lord, we will return better than when we started. We will receive the strength required for that desire and we will be able to enjoy it at the level that is expected. If peradventure, it requires a lot of sacrifice and dedication on our part, because we have prepared during the waiting season, we will not get weary because we are certain that we are doing the right thing.

How then do we wait? There is a process of waiting and it includes the following:

1. Believe: What is the promise you are holding in your heart? Do you believe it? You must believe it so much so that you can literally paint a picture of it coming to pass in your mind. Just as Abraham “believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness”. Galatians 3:6 NKJV

2. Trust: Sometimes the reason we cannot wait on God is because we don’t trust what He has said. It looks way beyond us and we think it’s bigger than our usual expectation, so we look for alternatives. This is us sabotaging the arrival of our blessings. So, trust God; no plan B, C or D, just plan A, God.

3. Focus: Irrespective of what the circumstances around you might look like, don’t take your eyes off the promise. This will give you staying power. If possible, write it somewhere you can easily see, paste it on the wall, on your office table or as your screensaver on your phone or laptop. When you fix your eyes on the promise, you are automatically fixing your eyes on God and it becomes impossible for you to wait in vain or for the enemy to steal your joy.

4. Rejoice: Now take your faith a notch higher, praise God like you already received the promise. When you thank God for what he’s about to do, he comes through in ways that exceeds your expectation. Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah were going into battle and instead of arrows and spears, they led the way with praise and they didn’t have to raise a finger because God set an ambush against their enemy. That is how powerful your praise can be; it will look foolish to others. In fact, they will wonder if you are normal but rejoice. Remember, praise will confuse the enemy.

On a final note, your waiting period will require patience on your part. Don’t waste that season complaining, fidgeting and worrying. Activate your waiting process and stay the course. Though it tarries, wait for it, it will surely come to pass.

This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.

Habakkuk 2:3 NLT

Written by Tolu Oyekan