Weathering the Storms of Life A Six-Part Series

Part Six

 

Waiting on God for the Calming of the Storm

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

Psalms 38:15

“I wait for you, O Lord; you will answer.”

 

Psalms 130:5

“ I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I put my hope.”

 

Waiting is something we all have in common. Statistics state that the average person spends 45 to 62 minutes waiting each day. Depending on your lifespan, this means you will spend 3-5 years of our life just waiting. We wait in line at the store, at a stoplight in our car or in a chair at the doctor’s office, but the waiting that is especially difficult is the waiting we do in the midst of a storm of life.

 

Storms of life often create situations where we are waiting for trauma to subside, for a resolution of a difficult situation or for the diminishing of the pain and hurt we have suffered. Even after a storm is over sometimes the waiting is not done. Often we continue waiting for new opportunities to develop, for the healing of wounds we have experienced or just some peace and calm after financial, psychological or emotional hardships. Whether we are waiting for the calming of the storm or for the process of rebuilding after a storm, the best thing to remember is that while we are waiting, God is waiting with us and He will sustain us.

 

God allows storms to take place for many reasons, many of which are never revealed to us. This makes waiting difficult, for we can’t understand why God allowed the trial or hardship to take place and why it is not resolving as quick as we would like. In our waiting we have to grasp the fact that the storm will subside and dissipate according to God’s timeframe. This pushes us to trust that God is in control and when He judges it is appropriate our waiting will be over. Storms of life can be faith builders if we respond to them in a godly manner. Once we understand this, we must choose to let God build our faith in the waiting of the storm.

 

When the resolution of our storm is delayed and we are in the midst of a difficult waiting period we must have faith that God is working in a variety of ways in the lives of the people involved to bring His will to fruition. God is also waiting with us for events to take place that are necessary to work out His will. This can be a very, very slow process. While God is perfect in His patience, we are not, and that is why waiting is so difficult for us. We don’t like being denied what we desire. We want what we want, and we want it now! But God’s desire for us is that we be more like Him and one of the ways He can help us be patient like Him, is to allow storms to come into our life to build our endurance and skills in waiting.

 

While we wait with God for the calming of the storm of our life, scripture can be a great encouragement. Numerous passages instruct us to wait on God, put our hope in Him and trust that He is working on our behalf during our struggle or difficulty. Following are some especially good verses to meditate on while you are waiting.

 

Psalms 27:14

“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

 

Here we are told what we are to do while we wait. We are to be strong and be encouraged. Our strength comes from the Lord (Psalms 18:1, 32, 21:13, 28:8, 29:11, 46:1, 59:16, 73:26, 81:1, 118:14) and our encouragement comes from Him and His Word as well (Psalm 10:17, Romans 15:4, 2 Thessalonians 2:16)

 

Psalms 37:34

“Wait for the Lord and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land;”

 

Here we are told to wait on the Lord and keep His way. What is meant by “keep His way?” I believe this is an encouragement to stay on the righteous path of obedience. Keep in His Word. Keep in communication with Him through prayer. Part of “keeping His way” is also continuing to put a priority on fellowshipping with other Christians in a local fellowship. This provides support and accountability, but also opportunities for us to serve the needs of others as we wait on God. Waiting is not sitting in a chair or laying in a bed waiting for resolution. Godly waiting in a trial is continuing, as best we can, to live a normal Christian life, growing in the Lord and letting Him use us to minister to others. This scripture ends with the assurance and hope that God will eventually bless us and bring a resolution and end to our trial.

 

Isaiah 30:18

“Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!”

 

This is a precious verse for it shows some of the emotions that God deals with in His waiting with us. God longs to be gracious to us in our situation. He wants resolution very likely more than we do. He is anxious to bless us when He knows it is best to do so, but this requires waiting on His part and ours. This verse also implies action on God’s part. He rises and actively shows us compassion during the storm of our life. While we are waiting He is comforting and consoling us. God is a just god and we are blessed because we wait on Him to bring about justice in our situation. Billy Graham has said, “God is more concerned about our future and our relationships than we are.” This is so true. God knows more about our needs and situation than we do. He cares about us in ways we have no knowledge of. We are blessed if we wait on Him as He works out not only our present predicament but also our future. He will also heal any trauma we have experienced as well.

 

Shannon Wexelberg has written a song called “In the Waiting” that addresses the fact that God waits with us in the midst of a storm of life. A portion of the song says:

 

I’ve been waiting here so long. You see each tear.

As the months have turned to years.

For some reason You must want me here.

I can see You’re breaking up my fallow ground.

In this season of such barrenness,

Lord, I have found.

You are in the waiting. In that moment of my life.

When my faith and hope collide

While my heart’s anticipating

How and when You’ll move

Oh, that’s when You prove

You are in the waiting too

So plant Your seed “Til it’s living, Lord, in me

Make me all You want me to be.

 

There are several good truths contained in the words of her song. In a waiting out a storm of life, we must acknowledge the fact that for some reason unknown to us, God wants us to wait. As we wait, God breaks up the fallow ground of our life. These are areas that have become root-bound or have gone dormant that need to be rejuvenated or reborn. This may be the reason for a storm of life, or it may be something good that can come from a storm. This involves the fertilizing of our spiritual life and the planting of seeds of faith that can grow as we wait for an end to our waiting.

 

John Ortberg has said, “Biblically, waiting is not just something we have to do until we get what we want. Waiting is part of the process of becoming what God wants us to be.” God can accomplish things in our waiting that He can never accomplish at other times. We often focus on our storm while we are waiting when we should be focusing not only on God, but also in what ways He may desire to change us for the better. Focus can make all the difference in coping in a difficult time of waiting. Focus on the hardship and you will be depressed, fearful and stressed. Focus on the waiting and you will be impatient, angry and anxious. Focus on God and you will be encouraged, strengthened and comforted.

 

Shannon’s song goes on to show the difficulty of waiting for God’s timing in a situation. She shares that our faith and hope collide. I believe what she is trying to communicate here is the stress that we live under as we strive to have faith in God and that we can have a hope for a future resolution. There can be tension between faith and hope as we wait in what appears to us to be a desert devoid of any positive activity. But do you remember Moses’ experience. Before He was called to lead the Jews to the Promised Land he had to wander in the desert for 40 years. This was his waiting period before his leadership could begin. Can you imagine waiting 40 years for resolution? I’m sure there was a collision of his faith and hope as God prepared the fallow parts of his heart for ministry. Godly waiting is filled with hope in the Lord as numerous passages communicate to us.

 

Psalms 33:20-22

“We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you.”

 

Psalms 5:3

“In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.”

 

Micah 7:7

“But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.”

 

Isaiah 40:31

“But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

 

“Waiting for God is not laziness….Waiting for God is not the abandonment of effort. Waiting for God means, first, activity under command; second, readiness for any new command that may come; third, the ability to do nothing until the command is given.”

G. Campbell Morgan

 

“Cast not away your confidence because God defers his performances. That which does not come in your time, will be hastened in his time, which is always the more convenient season. God will work when he pleases, how he pleases, and by what means he pleases. He is not bound to keep our time, but he will perform his word, honour our faith, and reward them that diligently seek him.”

Matthew Henry

 

May you sense God’s presence as you wait and may you be a good steward of the time of waiting that God has placed in your life. Remember; FOCUS on Him, not on the waiting.

 

Proverbs 20:22

“Wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you.”