Waiting can be difficult. And while what’s on the other side is worth waiting for, as I mentioned in my last post, sometimes we get stuck just waiting.
It’s important that life isn’t halted just because we’re waiting. After all, Isaiah 40:31 tells us that those who wait will “mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
That’s a lot of moving for someone who’s waiting.
Life still goes on while we wait, and we should be active and engaged in what God is doing around us.
Here are 5 things you can do while you’re waiting.
1. Be Faithful
Don’t get so focused on what you’re waiting for that you let other things fall by the wayside.
Being faithful in the daily things is so important. It conditions us for the discipline needed to handle that which we are waiting on.
Pray and read the word.
Be faithful to church.
Continue living a life that honors God and is an example to others.
2. Serve Where You Are
You may not be where you want, but you can still be useful to God, like Jennifer recently shared, and serve where you are.
What family can you bless?
What ministry can you serve in?
What opportunities to advance God’s kingdom are right in front of you?
Find ways to use your talents or simply be a blessing in your family, small group, church, neighborhood, workplace, school, community, etc. There are so many opportunities if we take the take to look at the circles we are already in.
3. Grow
Waiting seasons often bring growth. Be conscious of the ways God may be working in your life.
Are there some things that need to change? Perhaps there are some weights that need to be laid aside in order for God to move you the next phase.
If you’re too distracted by what may be on the other side, you may miss all the ways God is trying to get your attention on this side. Don’t forget that learning and growing is found in the waiting.
4. Keep Believing
Waiting seasons are like an invitation to doubt. When we’re waiting, we can start to doubt that God really spoke to us.
Did God really make that promise, or was it just wishful thinking?
A wise teacher once told the student body at Texas Bible College, “Don’t doubt in the dark what God gave you in the light.” Don’t let doubt rob you of the joy and growth found in the waiting by distracting you.
If God said it, it will come to pass!
Keep believing!
5. Remember What He’s Done
One of the best ways to keep your faith high is to remember all that God has already done for you. Think of the miracles you’ve seen in your life and in others. Remember the promises that have already been fulfilled.
Be encouraged by the greatness and faithfulness of our God!
Lamentations 3:21-26 puts in this way, “This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.”
Don’t let a season of waiting bring your life to a stop.
Jesus told us to occupy until He comes. In other words, work while you wait. Waiting is a season; it’s not an action.
When the time comes, you want to be found doing something while you wait.
Too many people spend their life waiting on the chance to do something great and miss the fact that God has us where we are, waiting, for a reason. We should get busy while we wait.
If Joseph had not been interpreting dreams in prison, he wouldn’t have interpreted dreams in front of Pharaoh.
If God has called you to do something, or has given you a promise, get busy while you wait. It’ll be here before you know it.