I come from Kenya where culturally events and the people are more important than when it happens or if it’s on time. If you made me wait, that you didn’t respect me or value our relationship. The reality is that waiting is part of life, regardless of the culture, and is a big part of our faith.
Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” Hebrews 11 has often been referred to as the Hall of Faith. Waiting, then, is an expression of our faith. It is, in fact, faith in action. The Hebrews 11 passage lists men and women who acted in faith and then waited for God to come through. It talks about Abraham and Sarah who are given a promise regarding their seed, and yet they were too old to be thinking about having children. Following this promise, they have to wait another 25 years before God actually gives them a son. The children of Israel are promised the “Promised Land” and have to wait a generation to walk into it…oh, wait, sorry, fight for it. Christendom is promised the return of Christ and heaven—it’s been over 2,000 years and we are still waiting.
In June 2014, my husband, Albo, got a call from the leadership in a church asking about the possibility of him coming to work in the U.S. God had been speaking to me. I had sensed that a shift was coming and had begun to prepare, even if I hadn’t known what it was.
The intense transition began for my husband to leave the church he had planted, and grown from 80 to close to 800 people in just three years. We needed to say goodbye to dear friends and family. Then there was the “minor issue” of our paperwork and the wait began. At first it was fine; we were mentally prepared for it to be three to five months for visas, and there were a couple things we really wanted to do before we left. But instead of the original three to five-month wait, we ended up waiting 11 months.
During that waiting time, we learned:
1. Patience
As a believer, I have embraced that one of the key reasons I am on this earth is to be made holy. God is developing my character. This process is often compared to the process that is used to purify metals. Malachi 3:2-3 talks about the Lord purifying the Levites with fire as a refiner purifies silver. Let’s be real, this part of our faith isn’t often pretty and fire is not fun to sit in, but it has a purpose—an incredibly critical purpose. To purify the bride of Christ. The royal priesthood.
At some point in the wait, I figured out that God was going to use this to purify our family and somehow bring glory to Himself. I couldn’t imagine how. I had some suggestions for Him on how giving us our paperwork promptly could give Him glory, but He knew better how to glorify Himself through our waiting.
James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
There was a part of this transatlantic relocation, with three children, that gave me anxious terrors. However, I know that in the wait God deposited in my soul ammunition that I would need to do this. I have been acutely aware of grace, peace, and presence that came through waiting. Waiting does grow character.
2. Trust the Process
As we waited, I imagined a time in the future and thought, “We will definitely be in the United States by then and then we will do this or that…” Here is a really important thing I discovered: I am not God. I am not in control, He is! I have to trust the process. There is a bumper sticker that I saw often in Nairobi that said, “There is only one God, quit applying for His position.” Who do I think I am that I need Him to inform me of what He is doing and when, so that I can plan? Waiting reminds us that we’re not in control. Someone else has the wheel in this car and we have to trust Him.
Waiting is hard! There I said it. And God can handle us saying that. In Psalm 44, the sons of Korah are struggling with a situation and they are basically telling God, “We know you are capable of amazing miracles, why then are you letting us go through such pain?” They actually ask God, “Why do you sleep?” To be honest, because of the way I have been raised, I have struggled to ask God that, but it gave me license during the wait to honestly process where I was and how I was feeling.
3. Perspective
When you are standing in the middle of something, it is really difficult to see what God is up to; to see what God could be doing in it. But when we change perspective—either by looking beyond the situation to God or by trying to see it from God’s perspective—then things become radically different.
Isaiah 40:28-31 says:
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 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.
I love the description of God in this passage as the everlasting God, meaning He was here before time and He will be there when time ends. He transcends time. He created the ends of the earth. What can’t He handle? I may grow tired and weary, to which He says, “Lean in, my daughter. I’m about giving strength to the weary and increasing the power of the weak. Haven’t you heard?”
Look beyond what you’re waiting for to the God you are waiting on. Look deep into His eyes and say, “Lord, you are enough. If this thing/person I am waiting for never happens, I am content and complete in You. I live for you. I just want you. I am waiting on you.” It’s intense, it’s intimate. With the same angst you have been waiting, go after God.
John Ortberg says, “Without moving a feather, in great majesty, an eagle can soar to great heights out of sight. Eagles have been clocked at up to 80 miles per hour, soaring, without flapping at all, just soaring on invisible columns of rising air.”
Psalm 31:15 says our times are in God’s hands. He knows exactly where you are in the season of waiting; He can handle you honestly processing that with Him. He says, “I know it’s hard, but look to me. Hope in Me. Wait on me. I will be your rock in this. I don’t grow tired or weary. I’m right here.”
God is at work in us. He is working on our character and making us holy. There is a point to our waiting, and although we may never fully get it on this side of eternity, we need to trust the process, waiting patiently for the Lord. And He will renew our strength.
And as we wait, we join with a great cloud of witnesses—some who have waited on God and received what was promised on this side of eternity, and others who are on the other side of it.
~ By Eda Esilaba
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