A Battle Plan for Waiting Well đĄď¸
As trials and waiting stretch us, God is faithful to sustain and shape us.
This is Part 3 of the Bloom Fully Series, originally published in the Sustain Newsletter.
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đ If you missed the earlier parts of this series, you can catch up here: Part 1 and Part 2
Rooted for Growth
Last time, we talked about rooting ourselves in the Lordâs love and delight. One of the many reasons this is so vital is that it sustains us through the growth process He guides us on.
Letâs be honest right from the startâgrowing in the Lord is profoundly beautiful and absolutely worth it. But there are two key elements of this process that we, as humans, donât take well to:
1ď¸âŁ Difficulties that bring us to the end of ourselves
2ď¸âŁ Waiting on the Lord
Trials Don't Automatically Lead to Growth
Everyone faces difficultiesâbelievers and nonbelievers alike. But simply going through trials doesnât mean we will automatically grow through them.
For those of us who love Jesus and long to be shaped by His character, growth requires something deeper: entrusting ourselves to His process.
How Do We Grow Instead of Becoming Bitter?
So how do we ensure that our struggles and waiting seasons produce healthy growth rather than bitterness, distrust, or fearfulness?
đĄ First, remember: itâs the Lord who does the lionâs share of the work. He sustains us and directs the process. But we do have a part to playâone that centers on our heart posture and trust.
Yet, even when we donât play our part perfectly (spoiler: we wonât!), He is faithful to grow us as we lean into Him.
When the Process Feels Opposite to the Promise
David gives us a beautiful example of what it looks like to wait well in Psalm 138. I encourage you to read the entire psalm, but letâs focus on verse 8:
âThe Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands.â
(Psalm 138:8, ESV)
Here we find a battle plan for waiting wellâwrapped up in a single verse:
đ "The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me."
David declares to himself what he knows to be true: the purpose of his life is in the Lordâs hands. It falls to the Lord to fulfill it as David leans on Him, trusting and following. This doesnât mean he is sitting on his hands, but he also isnât trying to bring about his purpose in his own strength or timing.
đ "Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever."
David roots his trust in the love and unchanging nature of God. His circumstances are volatile. The Lordâs love is faithful and enduring. It becomes his anchor point, the thing that holds him steady through the winds of change and adversity.
đ "Do not forsake the work of your hands."
I love the humanity expressed in this prayer. To my ear, it contains a plea to the tune of:
"I know You wonât⌠but please donât abandon me."
David wasnât a superhuman. He was subject to the same uncertainty and frailty as the rest of us, but He chose to trust the Lord in the midst of it. David was anointed king, yet he spent years on the run, waiting for that promise to come to pass. His circumstances looked like the exact opposite of what God had spoken over him.
Maybe youâve experienced this tooâGod speaks something over your life, but the journey to get there seems to take you in the opposite direction. Itâs only when we come through to the other side that we see the fruit He was producing all along.
If Youâre in a Season of Trial or Waiting, Hereâs a Recap of the Battle Plan:
đż Hold fast to His promises. Declare the truth that He will fulfill His purpose for your life.
đż Root yourself in His love + faithfulness. The cross is the forever sign of His great love for you. Find promises in Scripture to cling to in the waiting. It also helps to remind yourself of how He has been there for you before.
đż Cry out to Him. The journey can be really hard. For the sake of intimacy with Him and for the sake of your own well-being, lay your heart bare before Him. Throughout the psalms, David models so well what it looks like to remember and praise the greatness of the Lord while also being honest about what he is experiencing.
đż Keep following where He leads even when you canât see where things are going.
If you posture your heart in this way, you can be sure that your trials and waiting will produce the healthy growth the Lord intends. As you wait in faith, your growing dependency on Him will become your greatest source of strength for the journey.
And when you fall short of trusting Him, donât wallow in shame. There is no condemnation for you who are in Christ. Repent, and simply lean into Him once again.
A Word to the Weary
If you are already doing all of these things and have been for a while, I know from experience the weariness you may be feeling.
Just keep going, friend. No season lasts forever. Donât stop just short. It will be worth it when you see what He has been producing in the waiting.
đ As you lean into Him in trust, He is growing your trust further.
đ As you endure, He is growing your endurance.
đ As you humble yourself and submit to His process and timing, He is growing in you the character and humility needed for what you will steward in the next season.
đ And most of all, as you lean into Him, He gives you more of Himself. And He is, as He told Abraham, our exceedingly great reward (Genesis 15:1).
A Prayer for the Week Ahead
Lord, we bring our hearts before You. By Your Spirit, reveal the places where we misunderstand Your heartâwhere we are not fully rooted in Your love. We ask You to bring to light any lies weâve believed and set us free from them.
I can think of no better words to pray over my sisters than these words from the Apostle Paul:
âAnd I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lordâs holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledgeâthat you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.â (Ephesians 3:17-19)
Lord, root and establish us in Your love. May our capacity to understand and receive Your love grow this week and always as we walk with You.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for the fourth and final installment of this series: Bloom Fully in His Timing.
Your companion on the journey,
Nicole