In Genesis 12, God promises Abram an heir and that he would become a great nation, yet 10 years pass between the first time God states this promise and Genesis chapter 16. At this point, Abram and Sarai have faced years of childlessness where I am sure they waited hoping they would be able to have a child, but now they are promised a child by God and are waiting for him to fulfill this.
There was a key detail in God’s promise to Abram that was never mentioned or given to Abram. This was the detail of when. God never gave him the when of this promise to be fulfilled. This fulfillment of their long awaited promise, and we could even say something they longed for outside of God’s promise, required a season of waiting without the end being known.
It required them to fully trust that God would fulfill what He had said even if it didn’t make sense or work in the human timeline.
We see in Genesis 16 where their faith weakens and they try to make God’s promise happen. The fear of it not happening and their self-reliance governed their decisions. In their forcing of this waiting period to end, we see lack of trust in God, reliance on self, hurt, disdain, mistreatment… we see where their impatience in God’s timing leads to a messy situation.
But God does a beautiful thing with this mess created by a lack of faith. He redeems the story. He works in the life of everyone involved. We see that God does not walk away from His promise to Abram and choose to use someone else. We see rather a beautiful picture of God’s character. We see His mercy, forgiveness, and grace.The consequences of not having faith in the waiting are still there and will continue to be seen, but the beauty of God redeeming the story is powerful.
What are you waiting on? What are you hoping for? What good desire causes your heart to long for God to answer and fulfill it? Don’t rush the waiting.
Waiting is hard. Waiting breaks you, but in the most beautiful way possible. It breaks you in a way that allows the grace of God to flow through you. Impatience is our nature, and we want the hard season of waiting to end. Instead of wishing it away, see the beauty in this season. Hold on to it, and relish it as a gift from the Savior.,Your waiting season may be brief or you may encourter the ebbs and flow of different types of waiting. Your waiting season may not end in the way you wanted. Your waiting may continue until you stand before Jesus and He wipes away the tears of your waiting.
No matter what the outcome is, God’s promises to never leave you, to love you unconditionally, to give you mercy for each day, to provide and care for you, to draw close to those who draw close to him, to use your life as a testament of his faithfulness - these promises and more He will fulfill even if you never see what you have waited for.
Embrace the waiting. Don’t seek to push it away, run from it, or be done with it. Let this moment grow your faith in the One who is more precious than anything you are waiting for.
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