To The Girl Still Waiting
To the girl still waiting…
First and foremost, You are not alone. The reality is, we have all found ourselves in seasons of “waiting”.
Whether you’re the college girl waiting on your dream job while everyone else is getting hired, the single girl celebrating all of your friends getting engaged, or the married girl who is desperately waiting for a baby while everyone else is getting pregnant. I want you to know that every tear you’ve cried has been seen by God and every prayer you’ve prayed has been heard.
I have walked through each of these seasons personally, and the most recent was the journey of trying to conceive. Something I realized is that in these seasons of waiting it is easy to fall victim to the lies of the enemy, who seeks to steal our hope for the future as well as our joy in the now. That is why I want to encourage you with 5 powerful truths that really helped me.
1. We don’t serve a God who makes mistakes.
During our season of trying to conceive, month after month, negative test after negative test, I remember hitting the one year mark and looking at my husband completely devastated… But then he responded with complete confidence, “God is not making a mistake.” It was exactly what I needed to hear at that moment. It grounded me and reminded me of the God that I serve.
I often find myself trying to author my own story & forget that The Lord is a much better writer than I am! At that moment I knew I needed to surrender & hand him back the pen.
2. Don’t lose hope.
“How long Lord”, “I thought by now” … the questions we all start asking when our own timelines don’t align with God’s. I remember specifically getting to a point where I felt like I no longer knew how to pray. In moments of deep pain, I didn’t know if I was supposed to pray for a miracle or patience in the waiting. The Holy Spirit brought me to the verse in Romans 8:26-27 that says,
“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.”
When I read that verse, I was brought to tears. I had a vision of the throne room. God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus were having a conversation on my behalf. I knew they had me and I was able to rest knowing that. It then became less about me getting what I wanted and more about aligning my heart with Gods.
What He has said, WILL come to pass. In HIS perfect timing.
I want to remind you that even though you might not understand now that is fully okay. You are allowed to sit in that. You are allowed to grieve. Just don’t stay in that place too long or you will lose vision for all the things He is doing in your NOW.
3. Don’t forget all the answered prayers you are currently walking in.
Don’t let the lack of the thing you are waiting for stop you from enjoying the gifts you currently have.
I remember the morning the Lord convicted me of this. I had just started my period the night before so I knew my joy was at stake that day. I sat up in my bed and all I could hear was Psalm 118: 24, “ This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” I looked around and started counting my blessings. I thanked him for my sweet husband that I had prayed over for years, the home we were currently building together, & for the work we get to do each day. It was amazing how quickly my perspective started to shift when I turned my focus to God’s faithfulness in my life.
So I encourage you today to write down all the answered prayers you are currently walking in. Not only will it increase your faith but it will bring you contentment and joy for your here and now.
4. How you wait matters, so don’t waste it.
I am sure you have heard this before but if God answered all your prayers tomorrow, would you even be ready? I grew up a competitive dancer & I cannot even tell you how many hours were spent in practice before we hit that competition stage. We need to look at our season of waiting as the preparation zone. What can we be doing now that will best prepare us for the season to come. If you are waiting for your person to come along, how can you be preparing your heart to be a wife? If it is for your dream job, how can you be preparing to be the best employee? If it is for your baby to come, how can you be preparing for motherhood? We need to be active inside our waiting, knowing full well God is preparing us for what He has prepared for us. Let’s live in a way that is fully convinced that the Lord will fulfill his promises to us, and just like Abraham, we will bring glory to God before the promise even arrives.
“Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.”
Romans 4:20-21
5. You are not alone.
Sometimes when we start to lose hope, we need people who can be our hope carriers. Those friends who lift us up when we are down and remind us of His truth. I am not sure how I would have walked through my season of waiting without my prayer warriors beside me. There were so many days I had to text my girls and ask them to lift me up in prayer because I was starting to spiral. Minutes later I would receive a voice memo or a song that felt like it was sent straight from heaven to encourage my soul. That is the power of Christian community. When our faith starts to get weak, we can rely on the faith of others to pull us through. And because we have experienced this kind of comfort, we will then know how to extend it to others as well.
If you are reading this and saying to yourself, dang I really wish I had people like that in my life, I encourage you to start praying for it. Get involved in your local church, join the LO sister community, or find an organization whose cause is dear to your heart & start volunteering! Community is out there, but we can’t expect it to come to our house and greet us while we Netflix and chill.
So as you process these times of waiting, don’t waste them. Don’t let the enemy make you feel less than. Write these truths on your heart and resist the temptation to compare yourself to others. Fight the urge to steal God’s pen, and don’t lose hope! Wait eagerly & expectantly for Him to show himself faithful. Come on, go ahead and praise Him for what you cannot yet see!
Blessings,
Tori Masters
a girl who understands the wait
