Wait With Expectancy

Psalm 130:5, “ I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope.”

Over the last few months my life has been full of many different circumstances that have made me wait for the outcome. Through the process I have come to realize there are seasons of waiting that can affect us differently. The different circumstances we experience as we wait definitely have an impact on our heart . It is our perspective that determines if our time of waiting will influence our thoughts and actions in either a positive or negative way. Do we see what we are waiting for as something beneficial and worth the wait or as something that will cause hardship or pain?

Experience has taught me that God’s perspective is what really matters. We cannot rely on our own emotional perspective especially while waiting during a season of trial and difficulty.

Waiting is easy if connected to an expected  special moment or event. In fact, we wait with expectancy. We may suffer with moments of impatience but overall we wait with joy filled hearts. I was able to experience this in November as I went to Alabama anticipating the arrival of our second grandchild. She did not arrive on her due date so there was a time of waiting! The day my daughter went into labor was bittersweet. I was anxious to meet my new grand baby but I also knew the work my daughter would have to endure as she delivered this baby naturally.  What joy and gratefulness as I received the call that our new baby arrived and it would be a short time before I held our new granddaughter in my arms. We are now waiting once again for the arrival of grandchild number three due in mid-February. I am again waiting with expectancy for another beautiful grandchild to fill our hearts with special moments and unexplainable love.

Then there are the times of waiting when we are waiting with both longing and expectancy. I have lived the emotional rollercoaster as the wife of a soldier for over 29 years and now the mother of military children. I have experienced the days of waiting, longing for my loved ones safe return. I have also waited with excitement as the day of their arrival can be counted on one hand and we prepare the “Welcome Home” sign and rejoice the deployment is almost over. Waiting for my soldiers safe return and the safe return of my children while deployed has taught me to wait with God’s perspective. The situation out of my control and all I can do is follow Jesus example and trusts God’s will for the outcome. Each deployment I was required to say good-bye to my soldier not knowing if he would return safely. I have experienced the times my husband was deployed to a war zone and there was no communication. It was hard to wait and wonder if he was okay. I realized that the difficult and painful situations of life can cause us to respond with anger or impatience toward God if we lose our focus on His word and the promises written for us. God tells us to be strong and take courage as we wait on Him. (Psalm 31:24) If not, we become controlling and demanding. We want life back to normal, our routine, the people we love with us not half a world away living in a danger zone, or the worse imaginable situation, the loss of someone we love. It is in these desperate times we cry out to God. We wait but sometimes God doesn’t respond the way we want or worse we feel as if He is not listening or we can’t hear Him at all. Then what? We acknowledge God’s silence makes us uncomfortable and we want to run away from the painful and hard situation we find ourselves in. But life is not something we can run away from and so we have a choice. Will we believe in God’s promises to us?  I have learned through the waiting in the most painful of times to choose to stand on His promises and who He is. He promises to use even the most painful of situations for good. (Romans 8:28) This promise has helped me in the trials of life to wait with expectancy because God promises to be our help and shield. (Psalm 33:20)

I do not know what you may be waiting for in your life right now but I DO KNOW God is faithful to keep you in His loving arms. May we acknowledge our only hope is in the Lord. (Psalm 39:7) That hope allows us to wait with expectancy trusting God with the outcome.