EP 07 | Waiting on God

In this episode of the Necessary Things Podcast, Dr. Christy Bee presents listeners with various truths about an experience that no believer can escape, which is, waiting on God. Although an experience which can cause us to experience deep pain, in the hands of God, waiting is a powerful tool He uses to correct, process and prepare us for the promises He has for us. For every believer--those who are currently waiting on God, those who have had to wait on Him in a past seasons and those who will have to wait on Him in the future--this episode is necessary to encourage, correct and clarify their perspective and agreement with waiting well.

Transcript

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Welcome to the Necessary Things Podcast, where we have necessary conversations about faith, life for soul, and everything in between. And these conversations are to point us to the most necessary thing in life, which is submission to God, His Word, His will, and His Spirit. I'm your host, Dr. Christy B, and I'm just so happy to have you here. If you are a first-time guest, listen, get comfy, grab your favorite notebook and pen, and let's jump in because it's gonna get real. If you're a returner, I'm so glad to have you back. Please comment below, let me know where you're viewing from and just how much this episode is relevant to where you are and how it encourages you in your walk. With that being said, let's jump into this next episode of the Necessary Things podcast. Here at the Necessary Things Podcast, we prioritize having vulnerable conversations that are Bible-based and spirit-led because we see them as a tool that can be used in the discipling of believers. It is important immensely that believers are being matured in their faith, that they are being developed in their character to reflect more like Christ. And so throughout this season, we've had conversations about some of the realities of the faith walk that no Christian can escape, some of which being suffering, enduring spiritual warfare, and confronting the parts of us that are loyal to people, places, and things that are turning us away from God. Last week in particular, our conversation was about the war on our faith as believers, and it really set us up for where the Lord wants us to land today, which is talking about waiting on God. You see, embedded in your faith being tested is the call to wait and wait well. So today we are going to jump into talking about not just what waiting is, why it's important, but how God uses it and how we can do it well. In Romans 5, verse 1 to 4 and 1 Peter 1, verse 6 to 7, we have two scriptures that paint a picture for us about the importance of our faith being tested, and as I mentioned before, us awaiting on God. Let's read Romans 5, verse 1 to 4. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance character, and character hope. And then if we go on to 1 Peter 1, verse 6 to 7, he says, In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that in the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. When we endure hardship, when our faith is tested, and when we are called to wait on God, it is for our good. Now the truth is that every believer on the face of this earth is either currently waiting on the Lord, will it have to in the future, or has waited on God in the past. It's just a reality and an experience that we can't escape in the Christian walk. Some of the things we will have to wait on God for are one, the fulfillment of specific promises He's made to us for our lives. For example, if the Lord has promised you that you will be married one day, there will be a waiting period in between the release of that promise and the fulfillment of the promise. That's just how the kingdom of God works. Now, the length of that time is determined by the Lord because he knows the intended time for the promises that he has given us to be fulfilled. So if we are going to behold and live out the specific promises of God that he's made to us as individuals in his kingdom, we're gonna have to wait. Another thing that we will have to wait for in our journey of faith is answers to our prayers. And these are prayers where we are seeking the Lord for revelation, seeking him for guidance, for direction, or even confirmation. Is this the path that you want me to go down? When we choose to humble ourselves and seek God in prayer, there is a time of waiting between our prayer and his answer. Now, sometimes the answer to the prayer comes immediately, but other times we have to wait and continue to pray and continue to sit and wait on him, and then he releases the answer to our prayers. Now, unless you want to be the opposite of what we're told to be in Proverbs 3, verse 5 to 8, which is one that trusts in the Lord with all their heart and doesn't lean on their own understanding, but rather acknowledges God in everything and allows him to direct their path. That's what we're called to do in those verses. Unless you want to be the opposite of that, you will have to wait on God for the answers to your prayers. Another thing that we will have to learn to wait for within our journey of faith is vindication when we are falsely accused or harmed. Consider Joseph, who was falsely accused by Potiphar's wife, and had to wait, what some scholars say was 12 years in prison before he was released. He had to wait for him to be vindicated, for him to be released from the prison that he didn't even deserve to be in. Often, when others do wrong towards us, when they falsely accuse us, when they lie on us, we will have to wait for the time where the Lord vindicates us. Another thing that we are anxiously waiting for is the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Scripture says, no one knows the day, the hour, the minute, the second, the time, but God the Father. And we are waiting for Jesus to return to gather up those who are part of his kingdom and take them on to glory. So as we wait anxiously for his return, and as we wait anxiously in times where we're falsely accused, as we wait anxiously for answers to our prayers and for promises to be fulfilled, what God is doing is using that waiting to make us more like Jesus. So today we have to have a necessary conversation about waiting on God because it tends to have a bad rep. I've had countless conversations with individuals who have been waiting on the Lord for five, ten, fifteen years, waiting for him to come through in a way, to answer prayer, to fulfill a promise. I too have experience waiting on the Lord to come through and do exactly what he's promised to do. And so the conversation we're going to have today is not only clarify why we're called to wait and God's purpose in using it, but also to teach us how to wait well. You see, in God's hand, waiting is a powerful tool that he uses to process us, to correct us, to prepare us and even position us for the good things that he has prepared for our lives. But let's be honest. How many of us can honestly say I enjoy waiting on God? If I had to choose between waiting on God or being given a shorter, easier path, how many of us would actually choose to wait on God and not take the path of less resistance? You see, our flesh is resistant according to Romans 8, verse 7. It's in enity, meaning it's at war with God. The very will, plan, direction, and purposes of God, our flesh wants the opposite. And so, because of this, we often try to escape, bypass, or shorten seasons of waiting. So we're going to talk today about waiting because the Lord wills that we submit to seasons of waiting, that we would see the fruit that He intends for it to produce in us, and so that we can make it to the promises that He intends to fulfill for us. So let's begin by talking about some biblical truths about waiting. First and foremost, waiting on God is an act of your will. What do I mean by that? We have a choice whether we will wait on God or not. The thing that I love about God and his kingdom is that he presents to us options. Either you can align with my will or go your own way. Either you can submit to my ways or do things in the customs of this world. Either you can wait on me or take up your own path and reap the consequences of it. God always gives us a choice. And the same is true for waiting. All throughout the book of Psalm, all throughout scripture, when I read scriptures on waiting, there's a command of the soul to do it. When the different psalmists wrote their psalms, they they wrote to their soul, wait on God. It's like they were training themselves to choose to wait on the Lord. When we choose to wait on God, we are choosing to align our will with his own, and we are choosing to submit to his processing for us. It all is a choice. A second biblical truth about waiting is that waiting on God is going to expose what's hidden in our hearts. Let's consider Israel in the wilderness. Exodus 13, verse 17 to 18. After Israel is led out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses, they come across the Red Sea, the Lord opens it up, they cross through, the Lord closes the Red Sea, and their enemies are drowned. They now are on the other side of this great sea, and Moses' job is to lead them to the promised land of Canaan. Exodus 13, verse 17 to 18 says that God intentionally chose to take Israel down the longer path because he knew if I take them down the shorter way, they haven't yet been delivered from the mindset of captivity, from the false sense of security that captivity brought them. So they're gonna want to go back, and they probably will go back to Egypt if I take them down this shorter way. So God, in his wisdom and compassion, chose to take Israel down the longer route, which was a total of 40 years. Some scholars say that the path, the shorter path would have taken days. God chose to cause Israel to wait. And in Deuteronomy 8, verse 2, he exposes why. And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all these 40 years in the wilderness to humble you and to get you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. I remember when I first read that scripture, I was like, mind blown. What? How compassionate of the Lord. And I can say this from experience, because some of you might be listening to me like waiting on God is an expression of his compassion. You haven't convinced me yet. Keep listening, hang tight. How compassionate of God to want to test his children enough that they wouldn't go into the promise with anything that would resist or mess up or cause them to mishandle the good thing that he has for them. God uses waiting to expose the idols in our hearts. He also uses waiting to expose the tendencies we have to return to captivity? How many times have you tried to return to that relationship that you know will do you no good? How many times when you were lonely at night, you picked up your phone and contemplated texting that person that you know is toxic? How many times have you flirted with the idea of returning to a place that God has delivered you from because of the sense of security, false security, by the way, it offers. God uses waiting to expose all of these things in us and not just expose us, because whatever God exposes is because he wants to address, he wants to deliver us from and heal us and set us free. So he uses waiting to expose the things in us that resist his will so that he can set us free and set us on a path that will align with his purpose for us. Another biblical truth about waiting is that waiting on God exposes where we tend to compromise and try to do things in our own strength. Let's talk about Brother Abraham. Father Abraham had many sons. I remember that um Sunday school song. Loved it growing up, right? Genesis 15, God promises Abraham, not only a child, but he's saying, Your descendants will be so great in number that even the stars that you can't number, that's an example of what my promise is for you. Genesis 15, God receives this promise. Him and his wife are old in age. In scripture, it describes that they were well advanced in age and past the age of childbearing, right? So he gets this promise in Genesis 15 that God is going to give him a child, an heir. And then in Genesis 16, he agrees to marry and sleep with Hagar, his wife's maid, and then births Ishmael. Ishmael was not the promise that God gave Abraham and Sarah. But Abraham was willing to compromise and did, and took matters into his own hand and birthed a son that was not the promise that God gave him. When we run ahead in our own wisdom and strength rather than choosing to wait of God, a thousand percent we will make a mess of things. And so through waiting, God exposes those places where we're going to be willing to compromise and do things in our own way or do things in the way of this world. And that is something that He carefully and compassionately wants to address. Another biblical truth about waiting is that waiting on God develops our character. Will you be faithful in what you don't like until I change your season? How many times has God asked me that? And I'm like, the call to be faithful in the hard places that don't align with the promise. Like that call is what develops character. You submitting to that. James 1, verse 2 to 4, it says, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work in you, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. God intends for his children to lack nothing in character. So he uses waiting to produce the fruit of patience in us, that we would have character that matches the character of Christ. It is never easy to wait on God. I just want to lay this down here. Enduring seasons of waiting that simultaneously are developing your character are difficult. Personally, 10 out of 10 would not recommend. They're hard. God's way of developing our character really goes at the root of the things that do not align with him. He let's go to John. Let's go to the book of John to get a really good understanding of this. John chapter 15. I'm the true vine, and my father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away, and every branch that bears fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. God wants us to produce not just any fruit, good fruit. And that fruit is seen not just through our works, but through our character. Who are we on the deep inside of our being? These seasons of waiting that God uses to develop our character are some of the hardest seasons because that pruning is not cute. That pruning is not easy. That pruning does not feel good. But as someone who has endured these types of seasons and is on the other side of some of these character-developing seasons, I can tell you they produce the most, the most precious fragrance out of your life. They produce the most beautiful characteristics in you that it's not worth bypassing those kind of seasons because you're always better for it. Another biblical truth about waiting on God is that it teaches us more about his love for us and the characteristics of his holiness. Let's consider Job's story. In chapter one of Job, we're introduced to a man who's considered righteous, who's considered blameless by God, but yet he loses a whole bunch. And through the entire book, we see Job wrestling with why has this happened? He's praying to God, and we don't hear an answer until 38, chapter 38 of the book. He's praying to God, he's having conversations with some of his friends. He's really wrestling with how could this be? What have I done to deserve this, right? And it's in chapter 38 that God responds to Job, and his response shines a light on where Job is lacking on his understanding of God's omnipotence and God's wisdom. Let's go to Job 42, verse 1 to 5. After God speaks to Job in chapter 38, this scripture that we're about to read really shows it crystallizes the change in Job's perspective. And it reads, Then Job answered the Lord and said, I know that you can do everything, and that no purpose of yours can be withheld from you. You asked, Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me which I did not know. Listen, please, and let me speak. You said, I will question you, and you shall answer me. I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you. Therefore I bore myself and repent in dust and ashes. This new perspective that Job got in this season of waiting and testing led him to repentance and clarity of who God is. God will use seasons of our waiting to reveal his true character to us and to rework our understanding of his nature. Another biblical principle about waiting on God is that it presents us with the best possible choice. Have you ever had multiple options in front of you? And it wasn't until some time passed that you realized, oh, there's actually only one choice that is the best choice for me. Sometimes time is what is needed for the death to settle and for our eyes to see things clearly. Waiting on God will present us. With the best possible choice we should take. Another biblical principle is that waiting on God prepares us to be good stewards of the promise. The truth is, sometimes we are not ready to steward the very things that we are praying and believing God for. You are hoping and praying that God is going to come through and fulfill this promise to you, but you don't have the discipline or the character to sustain it. God, in his compassion, will cause or lead us into seasons of waiting so that we can develop the discipline, the maturity, the ability, the capacity to steward well the good thing he wants to give us. Now, some of you may be listening and you're like, Christy, all this is fine and dandy, but I don't want to wait. I'm tired of waiting. This sucks. I hear you, but my best response to you is that your flesh is alive and well in a way that it shouldn't be. This final biblical principle about waiting is one that is very important. Waiting on God is going to reveal where you have not chosen to die yet. What do I mean? Galatians 2, verse 20. Paul says, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. This should be what every believer is rehearsing daily because Christ has called us to what? Pick up our cross and follow after him, to die daily, which means we're no longer living. But it is Christ who should be living through us. So if you are still resisting the good thing that God is doing through waiting, your flesh is too alive, and you need to humble yourself and lay it down on the altar. It is the places in your heart where you're resisting to waiting on God, where your flesh is fighting against the good things of God, fighting against his purposes and plans for you, and leading you away from his heart. Our resistance to waiting ultimately gets in the way of God completing his perfect work in us. And that's not his will. That's not what he desires for any of his children. I want to take this time to remind you of the first biblical principle. Waiting is an act of your will. What I love about God is that the things that he calls us to, he emulates himself. Every member of the Trinity models for us how to wait. Chrissy, what do you mean? For example, Isaiah 30, verse 18. Let's read it together. And it reads, Therefore, the Lord will wait, that he may be gracious to you, and therefore he will be exalted, that he may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him. There's this beautiful dynamic that we're presented with in Isaiah 30, verse 18. God the Father is waiting to be gracious to us. And as he's waiting to be gracious to us, he also says, those who wait for him are blessed. So God the Father models waiting for us. Another example is the Holy Spirit, John 16, verse 8. Holy Spirit has been given though one of his roles is to convict those in the world who are far from God, who are um estranged from a right relationship with him, to convict them of their sin. And he's waiting for them to respond to those nudges that they are ignoring so that they can be reconciled to God through Christ and a part of his kingdom. I'm so grateful that Holy Spirit waits. Jesus Himself, not only is he waiting in the present, but he waited as he walked this earth. He had to wait for the time, the appointed time for his public ministry to begin. And that wasn't until he was 30 years old. He had to wait for the time of his death, for God's will for his life to be fulfilled. That happened three years later. And Jesus is currently waiting for the time of his return. Because he doesn't even know. It is only the Father that knows the time where that sky will crack open and Jesus will come down. Because Jesus waited not just in his divine nature. Like when you think of the divinity of Jesus, it is perfect. It is without blemish, right? He's waiting in his divinity. He's waiting for the time when he will return. But he also waited in his humanity. Though without blemish, he Jesus, Jesus had flesh too. Hebrews 14, Hebrews 4, excuse me, verse 14 to 16. Let's read it. Because when you think of how Jesus waited when he was on earth, it makes it makes you appreciate what he actually achieved through his life and ministry. Hebrews 4, verse 14. Seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need. Jesus sympathizes with us as we wait. Why? Because he had to wait in his humanity too. He knows what it feels like to have to wait, but your flesh is telling you not to. And because he knows, we then can come to him boldly to obtain the grace that he has afforded us through him waiting and not sinning. So today I want to take a moment to just pause right there and ask you what specifically do you need from God to wait well? What is getting in the way of you yielding to your waiting season, of you yielding to the timing of God, so that his perfect work can be done in you. Whatever it is that you need, come boldly before the throne of grace, and you will obtain not just the mercy, but the grace that you need to submit. I've alluded to not just in this episode but throughout this season, personal experiences that I've had with God. And today I want to share my own experience waiting on God for promises to be fulfilled, but then also waiting on God for vindication. When it comes to waiting on God for certain promises to be fulfilled, I can honestly say that waiting has saved my life. And I don't mean that lightly. If I took some time to just tell you a little bit of the details, a little bit of the tea, that is, the things that I've seen and experienced in my lifetime, you would understand all the more how me choosing to wait on God has saved me from experiencing hardships that I believe no human should ever experience. You see, when God gives you a promise, it is so easy, especially if you're someone like me who's a go-getter who can easily think of a plan, can see how to get from A to B to Z, and knows, has the capacity to fulfill that plan, right? If you're someone like me and God gives you a promise or a little glimpse of a vision, you might think, like, okay, it's time for me to take on some of this responsibility and help him out. Like, let me help you out, God. And I have never said to God, let me help you out, but my actions and how I have engaged with certain seasons of waiting have shown that that's exactly what I was trying to do. I thought in my own futile wisdom that I could help the God of the universe to fulfill the promises that he gave to me. And every time I was left flat on my face, repenting, because I realized, dang, I can't do this. He knows. I was reading a scripture earlier that I just think fits so well into what I'm saying right here. Let's go to Isaiah 40. Holy Spirit led me to the scripture today, and as I was reading through it, I kept going back to verses 13 and 14, which says, Who has directed the spirit of the Lord? Clutch pearls. Or as his counselor has taught him. With whom did he take counsel? And who instructed him and taught him in the path of justice? Who taught him knowledge and showed him the way of understanding? Who can honestly say that they have instructed, counseled, helped God, that he has needed, had some weakness, that he needed the support of another, no one. So in the times where I've been waiting for certain promises to be fulfilled, I have come to realize that when I try to help God, think I'm helping God, I'm only hurting myself and delaying my time of waiting. In retrospect, I can tell you that the times where I felt like God was breaking my heart, he was actually saving me from heartbreak. The times where I felt like God had forgotten about me, he was actually not playing about his baby girl. God will close doors and break your heart because he knows what's on the other side of that door, and he knows that's not any good for you. And it's not even comparable to the good thing that he has promised you. I can also share experiences of me waiting for vindication. Um in 2016, there was a young lady that at that time the Lord had highlighted her to me as someone that I was to develop and pour into because he was she was someone that he wanted to raise as not just a worship leader, but just a leader within the church congregation that I was a part of growing up. And me and this young lady, we built a relationship. We actually became really close. It wasn't just a mentor-mentee relationship, but it also was a friendship. Um, and throughout the journey of our relationship, I did not know at the time, but there were ways that I show up in relationship that she wasn't ready for. What do I mean? I am the friend that's gonna tell you the truth. I am gonna tell you the truth in love, but ultimately I'm going to tell you the truth. I'm not going to withhold wisdom from you if we have that relationship dynamic where there's space for me to do that. And this young lady, she had invited me on multiple occasions to speak into her life, to um pray for her, to give wisdom, to provide revelation and clarity about what God was doing, and you know, to give wisdom and um encouragement about what path she should take. And so it was not out of the ordinary for me to offer to her honest feedback or for me to offer to her biblical wisdom. But what I did not know was happening in her heart was she was growing resentful towards me because I was saying the things that God was asking me to say in love, in grace, but it wasn't what she wanted to hear. She didn't want to be held accountable. She didn't want to hear truth. And so, because her heart was growing in resentment, she then became a person that could be used by the enemy to falsely accuse me in this church congregation. And so she was used by the enemy to lie on me, to spread false narratives about my heart, about my character, um, to accuse me of um some things that just were not true. And in that season, I like to think of myself as confrontational when I need to be. I'm from Brooklyn. You know, I got a little oomph in me. I wanted to confront these things, but the Lord told me time and time again to be silent. Waiting for vindication in this experience was so hard. Because I knew that I had done of the things that this young lady was accusing me of, that people were agreeing with this false narrative about my character, it was so hard for me not to say anything because there's this strong sense of justice that I have in me. If something is not right, it should be addressed. But what God did, I have to say, it wasn't until eight years later that she came back around and repented. And in those eight years, what I now know God was doing in that season of waiting was cultivating in me compassion. Will you pray for those who falsely accuse you? Will you do good to those who purposefully harm you? Will you extend mercy to those who don't deserve it? Will you forgive those who harm you? Will you reflect the meekness of Christ? When God told me to be silent and not to address what was injustice, it wasn't because he was co-signing the fact that these lies were being spread or that he agreed with the narratives that were being spread about me, but it was because he cared more about his daughter being formed into the likeness of Christ than about my need for vindication. God is most committed to developing our character. He will break your heart to develop your character. He will have you wait to develop your character, he will say no to develop your character. And when I think about what God did in my heart from the time of learning that these lies were being spread, and the time eight years later that this woman came back and repented and said, I should have came to you earlier. I refused to say sorry, and now I'm living, I'm living out the backlash of that. What God was doing in me was maturing me so that I could reflect more of Jesus' character. This leads me to pause and ask you, those of you who are watching, those of you who are listening, what is God trying to build in you? The Christie that existed now ten years ago is not the Christie that exists today. What God has done through seasons of waiting is mature and transform me in a way that if I did not have those seasons of waiting, listen, I would be a hot mess out here in these streets. Because I would be running around in immaturity, in a lack of wisdom, wreaking havoc in my own life and the lives of those I'm in relationship with. If I have not if I did not learn to wait on God and endure the processing embedded in the waiting. So I ask you again, what is God trying to build in you? You can ask him to reveal that to you. And when he does, ask him for the grace to align with the process and submit. Before we end, I think it's always important for me to present some application. So, what are some ways that we can learn to wait well? The first one is to live your life in holiness, of course. There was a time where I was waiting, particularly in the season of singleness. So there was between the year that the Lord promised me that I would be married, and the year that I got married, there were 10 years that passed. So I had a 10-year stretch of waiting for the promise of marriage to be fulfilled in my life. And I remember there was a time where I was processing through it with the Lord, and I was like, What am I supposed to do in the meantime? Like 10 years, while we and at that time it was probably a year two, and I'm like, Whoo, I've been waiting for so long, right? Um, so I'm processing with the Lord, and I'm like, Lord, what am I supposed to be doing in the meantime? And he said, Christy, you're not waiting on a man, you're waiting on me to fulfill what I've promised you, and I always come through. So, in the meantime, what I want you to do is to live the life that I've given you, submit to the season that you're in, and live it out to the fullness while still living in the constraints of the boundaries of holiness that I've given you. So, one of the ways to wait well is to live your life. Laugh, explore nature, spend time in healthy community, serve others, learn a new hobby. Choose to live life to your fullest as you wait within the bounds of your waiting season that God has given you. For some, they can travel the world as they wait. For others, God is like, no, stay still, because if you go traveling the world, you're gonna run off and do your own thing. God will make clear to you what the parameters of your waiting season are. Live your life to the fullest within those parameters. Another way for you to wait well is to cultivate and practice being intimate with God. Have a daily time of prayer. Lay down everything that's within you in this time of prayer and choose to wait to hear a response from God. Worship Him when you want to complain. Praise him when nothing makes sense. Develop a closeness with the Lord that can sustain you through the waiting. Because the truth is, your practice of developing intimacy with God is not only gonna bring you closer to him and open your eyes to revelation of what he's doing in you as you wait, but it's also gonna teach you to train your flesh to submit to the waiting. Romans 5, verse 1 to 4, which talks about how testing produces good things in us. 1 Peter 1, verse 6 to 7 talks about how the perfecting of our faith comes through hard times. John 4, verse 34, where Jesus says, Listen, it is my food to do the will of the Father. Us too, it should be our food, our daily bread to submit to God and do his will. And then Psalm 37, verses 5 to 7, and also verse 34, call us to wait on God, to trust him, to not look at what we see happening with the wicked, and knowing that as we trust him, he will come through. Another way that you can wait well is when you feel discouraged, listen to testimonies of those who have waited and after their time of waiting have beheld the promise and are living in it. There's something beautiful, there's something dynamic about hearing a testimony and it cultivating faith, encouraging you to keep going. Sometimes we need to hear more testimonies of people who can honestly share about how God has called them to waiting so that we too can be encouraged. And last but not least is to invite God into the grief you will carry as you wait. I do want to take a moment to pause here and address that there are some of you listening who have a deep grief associated with what you're waiting for. I understand it because I too have lived it, and you are not alone. Consider Hannah, who was mocked by Panaina because her womb was closed, she could not give birth to children, but Panaina had multiple. Not just because we have to wait, but because of the reactions of those around us as we wait. Satan can use family members, friends, co-workers, fellow brothers and sisters. In the faith to mock and discourage us as we are trying to wait. For those of you who are carrying deep grief, I want you to know the Lord sees you and He can handle the depth of the grief that you are experiencing as you wait. Remember, we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with us. He sympathizes with us because he knows what it feels like to wait. He knows what it feels like to be tested. He knows what it feels like to carry grief. Really quickly, Isaiah 53. I love this description of Jesus because in times where I've been carrying heavy burdens, in times of deep grief while waiting, this scripture has brought solace and encouragement to my heart. Isaiah 53, verse 3. He is despised and rejected by men, that he is, this is a description of Jesus, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we did not esteem him. Jesus is described in Scripture as a man of sorrows, a man who was well acquainted with grief. For those who have been carrying heavy burdens of grief, Jesus sees you. And he is asking you to invite him into that grief because there's an exchange that he wants to happen while you wait. He says, Come to me those who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Give me those burdens, and instead I will give you rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. If you are carrying a grief and have been carrying it, the Lord wants you to exchange that grief for a light and easy yoke. Before we end, I do want to take time to pray. But I also want to resurface two questions that the Lord gave me to ask you. What do you need from God to wait well? And what is God trying to build in you through the waiting seasons? And as we go to God in prayer, if you don't know the answers to those questions, I invite you to ask. James 1, if any of you lacks wisdom, ask the Lord and He will give it to you freely. Let us pray. Father, we come before you as humbly as we know how. Your children, we honor you. You are a good father to us. We recognize you as the omniscient one who knows all things, who's never been counseled. We recognize you as the Almighty God, whose arms are not too short to work on our behalf, whose ears are not too dull that he cannot hear us when we call. You are great and greatly to be praised. And as we recognize these things, we choose to train our souls to submit to understanding that though in the seasons of waiting, you are still good, you are still God, and you have not forgotten about us. So, Lord, I pray for my brother and sister. I pray for those who are watching this video on YouTube, for those who are listening to the podcast audio. My prayer, Lord, is that in the places where they are weak, that they would find strength through Christ. Father, I pray that you would open their eyes to see that which you are trying to build in them through seasons of waiting. That they would not grumble and murmur and complain about the waiting, but that they would choose to wait well, that they would see waiting as a form of worship, that they would see waiting as a way for them to partner with you in preparing for the good things that you have for them, Lord Jesus. And Father, I pray for those who have been waiting, but for those who feel discouraged, for those who are being mocked by the paninas in their lives, for those who are being uh uh spoken down on by those who think there is no hope for them in God. Lord Jesus, today, would you give them what they need to continue, to continue picking up their cross and following after you, knowing that at the intended time you will fulfill your word, your promise to them. Father, would you cultivate in our hearts a joy while we wait? That we would know, not just know, but that we would trust and believe, rest in you, as Psalm 37 calls us to, that we would rest in you and wait patiently, knowing that you will not fail us. But that which you have begun in us, God, you will complete it as we wait. Strengthen, my brother and sister, empower them through the power of the Holy Spirit, that they would not fail and that they would march on to see the promise that you have for them. This we pray in the mighty, holy, matchless, kind name of Jesus. Amen. I bless you all and am so excited for next week's episode. I'm excited about what God's gonna have us chat about. So meet me here next week, here at the Necessary Things Podcast for our very next necessary conversation. Bye.