Seasons of Waiting

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Have you ever came to a point of your life that you wanted to put an end to something that has to be ended since then? It’s scary right? Maybe the reason why you don’t like to put a period in a certain thing, person or situation is because you are still enjoying your moment in that particular season. But let me remind you that there are things needed to be ended. Not everything that we want must be continued and not everything that we think is good is worth fighting for.

Maybe it’s your time to let go. It’s time for your new beginning. There is always a place where you can embrace your new season. A place where you can begin again. You can still be happy again, but this time no more regret. Now, the question is how to enter your new beginning?

In 22 years of living, I could say that the very first step to enter your new beginning is to forget the past. It’s really hard to move forward and yet your sight is still at your back. The tendency is you will fall down or you’ll stumble. You have to focus on what lies ahead and on the things that God can give to you. Can you imagine an athlete who’s trying to compete in a marathon with a heavy backpack? Yes, he will be able to finish the race but he won’t finish it at the appointed time. Like an athlete, a lot of us are ready to run our race. We are all excited to go to the destiny that the Lord has prepared for us. We are so ready. However, we forgot to do the most important thing that we need to do first; we need to let go that backpack full of pain, anger, regrets, failure, and grudges. When you drop that backpack, I promise you that your race will be much easier to run in life.

Now, it doesn’t mean that you decide to forget the past means you will absolutely forget it. You have to do something about it. Could it be that you’re saying that you have forgotten it but your heart is still on it? Believe me, forgetting the past is so painful. It takes a lot of courage and strength. But one thing I realized is this, you don’t just forget the past, you have to walk away from it. Stay away from people or things that will hinder you to move forward. Sometimes it’s actually not that you can’t move forward, it’s that you choose not to.

Forget the former things; do not dwell in the past. See I am doing a new thing! -Isaiah 43:18

I was reminded by this verse whenever I am holding back something that has to be closed since then. It’s clear that WE NEED TO FORGET THE PAST AND DON’T DWELL ON IT. Dwelling in the past will kill you, believe me. The Lord is doing something new today in your life! He wants you to see that thing — new hope, new faith, new heart — NEW YOU.

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. -Philippians 3:14

And as I end, the moment that we learn to forget the past and decide to move forward, let us not forget that the reason why we are entering our new season is because we are aiming for the better version of us. Leaving the old self behind and moving forward for becoming a better person. Let us press on toward the goal. There would be times that you will feel like you want to go back in the past because that is the place of your comfort, but please be strong and be firm. Some things may get to you, but you won’t be totally helpless. Jesus is always with you, and will never leave you. You know what, the most painful thing that we could experience is to be stuck in a situation that weren’t supposed to be. You don’t deserve to be in a place wherein your worth is no longer valued. You deserve not just the better but the best. Don’t settle for something less. You can do something about it. You can move on. YES YOU CAN!

I pray, that as you read this, you will find the courage in your heart to let go. May you choose to enter your new beginning and be excited for the new you. Godbless 🙂

For me, one truth about praying is that it’s not just changing us, but it pushes us to become something that God intended us to be. It is our prayer to God that makes us. That’s the power of prayer. It can change you. Prayer gives you faith, wisdom and power. It changes everything about you.

The more we pray to God, the more we become intimate and closer to Him, when we pray we become aware of His holiness. That’s why the more we seek Him, the more we become conscious of his presence. Let us take a look in the following verses in the book of Psalms. David said these words;

Psalms 22: 11,19; 35:22; 38:21; 71:12;
“Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.”

Let it be that our prayer to God is like the prayer of King David — a man after God’s own heart. We should have a prayer like this , “Lord, please don’t leave me, don’t be far away from me.” Have you ever experienced begging someone to not leave you? Do you still remember, when you were a child, you were crying endlessly just to be with your mom or dad. You will do everything just to make sure that your parents will not leave you alone. Or have you been trying to enter a relationship and suddenly your partner wants to end it, and then you beg for him/her to stay. See how desperate we are in those moments.

And we should be like that in terms of seeking God. Let us be desperate in asking Him to be with us in everything that we are going to do — in school, office, church and even in our home. Lets have this attitude of praying to God to not leave us.

Because the truth is this, life will be difficult without God in the first place. I never encountered someone who’s living a satisfied and happy life yet God is not part of his/her life. Yes, they would look happy outside, but inside, I’m sure that the loneliness, depression and anxiety is killing them. How I wish that they could feel the love that the Father is offering. That’s why we need to make sure that God is part of our life, if not, we can never be whole.

But let me ask you a question, “Are you still aware that God is still with you?” Because maybe, in your mind, God is with you, but the truth is, He is not in your heart anymore. The passion and love is not there anymore. Try to look at the people around you. Do you see Christ in their lives? Or lets ask this in vice versa, do they see Christ in your life? That’s why I would like to share two things that will help us to be closer to Lord.

1. MEDITATE HIS WORD.

Could it be that the reason why we are still immature is because we only read His Word. We are not growing because there is no application in reading the Word. The best thing to apply the word of God is to meditate first.
What’s the difference between meditating and reading?
Reading is a cognitive process of decoding symbols to derive meaning. (I learned this during my Developmental Reading Class )
Meaning, you read because you just simply want to understand the context of what was written. That’s all. It’s all about READING.

Meditate means TO SPEND TIME IN QUIET THOUGHT. What a wonderful definition. Meditate means to focus on what God is saying to us. Because it is possible that we are reading but we don’t fully understand the intensity of what we are reading.

For example, have you ever tried to read the book of Lamentations? If you read that book but didn’t feel the intensity of pain that the author wants to convey to the reader, it means you didn’t meditate the Word. Meditating is an act as if you were placing yourself in that situation. It means to spend time in quiet thoughts.

Is it possible that you are reading the Bible yet you are thinking other things that are not in scope in your Bible reading.You are meditating more on the problems that you have, you’re thinking about the pain and negative things, or you also meditate on lustful thoughts. Could it be that we are not changing by the Word of God because we are meditating the wrong things?

The reason why we give up easily is because we are more focused on the problem than the promises of God.

In Psalms Chapter 1:1-2
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

Who are the people who can experience God’s favor? Those people whose delight (strong feeling of happiness) is in the law of the Lord. Are you happy when you read your Bible? Who are those people who experience God’s favor? Those who meditate on his law day and night.
Remember, DAY AND NIGHT. Not just only in the morning and not just also only in the evening. Imagine, if all of us will learn to meditate the Word of God, I believe it is not impossible for us to receive and experience His promises for us, in our family and even in our church.

So what will happen when we learn to meditate His word? The promise is in verse 3.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

2. Be FAITHFUL IN PRAYER.
The best example whom we can follow by being faithful in prayer is Jesus Christ. Before Jesus started his ministry, he prayed. Then He will perform miracles, then after that, he will pray. Then He will show to people another miracle then He will pray again and again.

Jesus Christ showed to us that we need to be consistent in prayer. Don’t stop praying even if you come to a point that the Lord already gives to you the desire of your heart. In between the miracles that Jesus is doing, it is the work of prayer that makes him successful in the ministry.

Being faithful doesn’t depend on your emotion or any experiences that you are experiencing. The more you have trials and challenges in life, the more that you need to pray. Don’t stop praying even if you’ve already got what you have prayed for. You must continually pray. When you start it, finish it.

Faithful people are devoted people. Faithful people are full of faith.

The promise is in Mark 11:24
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

As you read this, my prayer is that you would learn to be desperate in God’s presence. You will not allow any moment of your life that God is not with you.

Now that you know how powerful it is to pray, you can reflect on these questions.

When was the last time that you cried out to God?

When was the last time that you read the word of God and you feel like the Lord is speaking directly in your heart?

When was the last time that you meditated on the Word of the Lord?

Lastly, when was the last time that you prayed so hard to the Lord even if He already gave to you the desires of your heart?

Today, my prayer is that you will desperately seek God’s favor and miracle in your life and in your family.

I was falling in line in the grocery store’s cashiers last week to buy some personal hygiene that I needed to bring in our travel next week when suddenly I heard a woman ranting with anger and disappointment because of the long line. She’s in a hurry so she wanted to be at first to pay in the counter. But it can’t happen because she needs to wait for her turn, and as I can see, waiting for her is a nightmare.

Honestly, I empathized with her. I’m not good at waiting either. I would much rather be moving forward. Somewhere. Anywhere. But sitting quietly and waiting is hard for me. So can you guess what God has telling me to do right now? Waiting. I am in a season of waiting for God to show what’s next—where should I go and what I should do.

But I believe that we are not the one who’s waiting. I have a friend who’s waiting for her graduation day after 7 long years in her college. Another friend is waiting for the result of her check up with her obgyne. Yet another continues to wait and hope for a child. These are not light things to wait for.

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him. -Psalm 37:7

When it come in waiting, I was always reminded of this verse. I heard one pastor said, “The waiting may be hard, but it will never lead you to disappointment.” The truth of that statement rests entirely on what we think we are waiting for. In other words, the question isn’t simply what am I waiting for, but what am I hoping in? I’m learning that waiting and hoping are intimately tied together. They are inseparable.

Waiting, by definition, has something to hope for at the end of the wait. We are waiting/hoping for the right job, right people, right place and right time. We hope for what is right because we don’t want to be disappointed at the end of our wait. My friends are waiting/hoping for a good report, relief, and a baby. But what if those things aren’t given? God never promises that our seasons of waiting will end by receiving exactly what we want. Not all infertility ends with a baby. Not all cancer ends with a cure. Not all singleness ends with a spouse. Which means that our hope can’t be anchored in the thing we’re waiting for. Our hope has to be anchored in something far greater—the promises and character of God.

Hope in the promise of God

“I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope.” Ps. 130:5

Our hope has to be anchored in the promises that God has given us in Scripture. Nowadays, we end up in regrets and pain because we didn’t get the result that we want in our season of waiting. It happens simply because we wait in the wrong source of hope. Promises from the wrong people will not last ‘till the end, it will fade. But the Word of God is forever. We can cling in to His Word, we can embrace it until our last breath. Remember, always anchor your hope to the promises of God.

Hope in the character of God

Hope also has to be anchored in the character of our God—the unwavering goodness, faithfulness, and sovereignty of the One making the promises.

The Lord doesn’t want us to wait in anger, disappointment and frustration. He wants us to wait with full of courage and faith. We wait because we know that the very character of God is perfect.

Believe me, He is perfect and He will not do wrong. If He is the one who create the time, it means that His timing is perfect. The character of God is to bless us. To give the best favour that we could ever have in our life. Hoping in His character means to hope in His plans. Remember, His timing and plan always goes together.

If you’re waiting on something, remember that, ultimately, it’s the Lord you’re waiting on.

If your hope is set on getting what you want, then you stand the chance of being deeply disappointed, even disillusioned. But if we hope in the One who is good, whose Word is sure, and whose ways are perfect, then that hope will never disappoint.

So when the trials come and you are called to wait and be patient, wait well by anchoring your hope in the One whose promises are sure and whose character never fails.