I am exhausted. Exhausted from this period of life that I am currently in, exhausted from waiting to see what my future holds, exhausted from holding on to the promises that God has made me, and just exhausted from figuring out what it is I am even waiting for.
Have you ever been in that period of your life where you feel like you are just waiting for something? You might be praying for God to bring you a new job, group of friends, spouse, passion, or even a new fire in your heart to spark that faith that has been put out for too long.
Currently, I am in a period of waiting. If you know me, you know that I can be impatient. Waiting for God to answer prayers in my life is like listening for my name to be called at the doctors office. Anxious and irritating.
I can't give you an exact answer as to what I am waiting for. I just hear God telling me that I need only be still. I keep being reminded of Romans 12:12 every time I start to get frustrated with God about this waiting room that I am currently in.
"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer."
Romans 12:12
What does it look like to be joyful in hope? How do you find joy in waiting for something that you don't even know when or how it is coming? Or even if it is coming at all? I have been researching these questions for weeks now. Not kidding. I even googled it. I wasn't satisfied with the answers it gave me either.
But yesterday morning, as I was having my quiet time, God answered my questions out of no where. I mean I was literally praying for God to remind me to get my clothes out of the dryer. But He likes to get all serious when I get worried about little things like that. But as I was praying seemingly small prayers, God was answering the big ones.
"Your eternal happiness allows you to rejoice in hope regardless of your sufferings."
Now I know those words didn't come from me because Im not nearly as positive about rejoicing during trials as Jesus is.
But in those moments I was reminded that since I know who holds my future, I can rejoice in that. When we put our faith in other people or things we are guaranteed a let down. But if our faith is in God, that assures us something incredible will come out of it so that is what I will rejoice in while I'm letting God handle the little details of my life.
"Hope lifts your perspective from your weary feet to the glorious view you can see from the high road. You are reminded that the road we're traveling together is ultimately a highway to heaven."
-Sarah Young (Jesus Calling)
If you're in the waiting room, like me, don't be discouraged with how long or how come. Rejoice in hope, be patient in the trials, and continually pray because we are PROMISED (and as far as I know, God is pretty great at keeping promises) plans for our lives that are far greater than we could have ever thought up on our own. Im confident that we won't be in the waiting room forever. I believe wherever God has us right now is exactly where we need to be. So ask God what it is that He wants us to take from this season of life. And once we hear our name called out of it, we will realize how we needed this period of waiting more than we thought.
