When You’re Waiting for an Answer {and a special giveaway!}

*I’m so excited to welcome Wendy Pope to the blog today. If you’re waiting to hear from God on something, or you’ve ever questioned if you heard God right, I know you’ll be blessed by her words …

 

When times get hard and the wait seems too long, we begin to doubt God as well as the unlimited and mind-blowing future He has planned for us. We begin to question God: Did I hear You correctly? Do You see what I am going through? Why does this have to be so hard?

We blame God because our circumstances seem more difficult than before we invited Him into our wait. It is during these times that we have to fight to maintain our focus on the Person of our faith rather than the object of wait or distracting circumstances that surround us. One way to do this is through prayer.

The Lord longs for us to reach out to Him and ask for help, clarity, and direction.

See what James 1:5–8 says:

If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who ‘worry their prayers’ are like wind whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open” (THE MESSAGE).

In this verse, James clearly tells us we are to ask our Father for what we need. James says God loves to help. I certainly like the sound of that—how about you?

In Wait and See identify common misconceptions “waiters” encounter. Recognizing these misconceptions will empower us to wait well, stay present in the present, and experience God in our delay.

Misconception #1: If I am waiting, I must not have heard God correctly.

Meet Ashley: Ashley learned that waiting doesn’t necessarily mean you heard God incorrectly. Ashley says, “We give up too easily because we don’t see what we want to see when we want to see it.”

Misconception #2: If I am waiting, I must desire something not in God’s will for my life.

Meet Samantha: Samantha desired to be married. She knew God ordained and approved marriage, but did He want her to be married? There are plenty of verses in the Bible about marriage, relationships, and how to be a loving spouse. Yet Samantha also knew the verses in which Paul clearly states that some people are called to remain single

Misconception #3: If I am waiting, I must not be praying enough.

Meet Dianna: Day after day, Dianna prayed and sought the Lord. Many days, she ate only one meal so her family could have all the food they needed. She watched her husband take odd jobs here and there just to make ends meet. She knew in her heart God would supply their needs, but she had to keep telling her head.

Misconception #4: If I am waiting, I must not have enough faith.

Meet Scott and Wendy: This was the lie I believed as we agonized over my husband’s declining health. What was I doing wrong? Was God holding my past against me? Had I not done enough to earn His favor? Sometimes waiting has less to do with the strength of your faith and more to do the perfection of God’s timing.

Misconception #5: If I am waiting, I must not be working hard enough.

Meet David: David did not ask to be king. David did not dream of being king. He wasn’t born into a royal family line from which he would naturally be appointed king. God chose David to be king. It is possible you and I could find ourselves waiting for something we never desired but God desires for us. He knows better than we do what we need to fulfill what He’s called us to do.

We need to prepare in the pauses so we’re ready to embrace God’s plans.

wait-and-see-giveaway

In honor of the release of Wendy’s new book I’m giving away this amazing gift bundle! It includes a copy of Wait and See, whimsical beaded bookmark with a butterfly charm, and hand stamped Don’t Rush the Wait aluminum cuff bangle. To enter to win leave a comment by Friday, October 21 and tell me which misconception you identify with the most. Or if you’re busy and don’t have time to write a comment you can just write, “I want to wait and see.”

Wait and See

Wendy is the wife of Scott, mother of Blaire and Griffin, author, speaker, and Bible study teacher. She loves lazy Sundays watching golf with her husband, thrift-store shopping with her daughter, and watching building shows with her son.

Wendy is the author of Wait and See. She is a contributing author to the Real-Life Women’s Devotional Bible, Encouragement for Today: Devotions for Daily Living, The Reason We Speak, and God’s Purpose for Every Woman. Wendy writes devotions for Proverbs 31 Ministries’ “Encouragement for Today” and is a content provider for the free online devotion app First 5 as well as a member of the Proverbs 31 Ministries speaker team.

She leads women all over the world to life change through her in-depth online Bible studies. She has led thousands of women through her Read through the Word study of the One Chronological Bible. Down-to-earth and transparent, Wendy teaches in a way that women feel she is speaking directly to their hearts.

 

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42 Comments

  1. I think misconception 3 and 5 are where I wind up off track and waiting is not my favorite pastime

  2. Dearest Wendy,
    I for one has identified myself with 1 and 5, because when I pray to Lord, I expect to see changes immediately for what I pray for, so because of this it makes me feel that I must misunderstood what God is saying to me. There are things that I desired in life, but I know that this can only be achieved through the will of God. So therefore I open my heart to him and wait patiently for what his will is for my life, because I know it would be permanent and good. Thank you

  4. In different seasons of my journey I have thought all of them…Misconception #4 would be my #1. I want to wait and see! I have signed up for the OBS! ????

  6. Hi Katy, thank you for publishing this blog post! Waiting has been one of the most trying things in my faith over the past two years especially. To be very honest, I have wrestled with every one of these misconceptions when it comes to waiting and sometimes the misconception I’ve struggled with has varied based on the day, although I’d say the two that I’m still wrestling with the most are the first two: I must not have heard God correctly, and I must want something that is not God’s will for my life since I’m still waiting. While I know that neither of these are necessarily truth, because God’s timing and ways are different than ours, it’s something that I have to continually reminds my heart and surrender to the Lord. For anyone else who finds themselves in a waiting period–or even waiting for God to give you a new dream, if that is where you find yourself today–I pray for you to feel Jesus present with you and leading you today through the valley. Much love to all, and God bless.

  8. I identify with all the misconceptions after reading back through them. I am in an extemely trying time in life and I question everything while I’m waiting. I want to be in God’s will and follow him, but the waiting does hinder my faith sometimes. Love the giveaway as butterflies have been a huge symbol to me during my transformation personally during this waiting period. Thank you for your ministry!

  9. I can relate to #3 the most, especially right now in my life! But I am trusting great things are coming!

  10. Been praying for my adult son for awhile now to return to church & recommit his life to the Lord.

  12. I fall into misconception #3, I must not be praying enough. I tend to get so emotionally caught up in things, I’ll pray and pray and pray. What I’ve started to learn though, is sometimes when I’m doing that, I’m not necessarily praying from my heart but rather just from impatience. I pray that I can learn to fully trust God and His timing. I know he has plans so much bigger than I could ever even begin to fathom. I would really like to read this book and gain some more knowledge for my walk with Him. Thank you so much for posting this.

  15. For me it is #1. Did I hear God correctly? Sometimes I even ask was that really God or just my own personal desires. Thank you for your ministry.

  16. I have struggled with all of the misconceptions at different times. I went through a very difficult season and #1 was the misconception I most struggled with. I knew that I had heard God, but the waiting went on for so long that it was increasingly difficult to continue to believe what I had heard was really from Him. Looking back now, I know that His timing and His working out His perfect will was very different from mine. He was faithful in all of the waiting.

  18. For me its #2 and #4. I am waiting to become pregnant. It has never taken time before and it has left me wondering if maybe God is just telling me ‘no’ on this or if maybe I’m not good enough, I don’t have enough faith, I have made too many mistakes…etc.

  19. HA! Do I have to pick only one of those misconceptions???? Definitely numbers 1 and 2. Because I’ve done this in the past (twice that I am PAINFULLY aware of), I’m always concerned that I might twist what God is telling me to fit my wants and desires over His wants and desires for me.

  23. I feel like all of these apply to myself when I’m in a time of waiting. It starts with number four, and then leads to, I need to pray more then I think well maybe I need to be more quiet so I can hear Him, because maybe I’m just not hearing him! Then when I’m sure this is what God wants I do it and then I think Did I hear him right, maybe it was my own desires maybe he didn’t tell me to do this . Reading This has shown me I’m not alone in this journey!

  25. Lord help me, but I cannot narrow it down to one misconception! I have struggled with all of them, at one time or another (sometimes all at the SAME time), over the same issue. This hit the nail on the head for me. Even though I know I am not alone warring with these misconceptions, its nice to see it in print! I will say I now have longer periods of resting in Him and I do attribute that to an increased prayer life and His grace to keep me focused on Him. I know He knows all that is going on with me and inside of me. He just likes me to come to Him and tell Him all about it :-). It will be good in His time.

  27. I’ll wait and see! A son’s marriage of 22 years is in trouble and it a seems as if nothing is changing. This was such a solid marriage of two Christians who put Christ first in their lives and the lives of their six children. I know that God is sovereign and pray that His will be done. Please continue to pray with us.

  28. Definitely number one! I often doubt myself. My husband and I are waiting as well, but God is doing some amazing things during the wait as He helps me to let go.

  29. Misconception # 3 & #4 are the one’s I identify most with, right now. I would love to win a copy of “Wait & See”. Thank you so much for your encouraging words. God bless!

  31. I can identify with all of them, but I tend to try to “help God move along” if something seems to be taking a long time! I need to just leave things in His hands, in His timing, which is perfect. Seems like I’ll never learn!

  32. #3 that I am not praying enough. I know I need to be persistent and never give up hope. I know His timing is perfect and that His ways are higher then mine. For the most part I have not lost true joy which comes from Him while I am waiting for certain prayers to be answered.

  33. I think they have all applied to me at different points of my life, and sometimes several even at the same time.

  34. When my car broke down I kept praying about it and was hoping it would be fixed right away. It was fixed but not on my schedule. Hoping doesn’t do it , praying does and giving it all up to Him and I have to remember that it is in His time not mine.

  36. I thank you for this timely message. As some others have said, in different times, all have applied. Mostly when it involves family members – ‘brings out the mother lion in me’. #3 would be my most common one. Would love the gift and share parts of it.

  37. I identify with misconception #2…I feel like I desire Gods will over everything yet find myself waiting…a lot. Especially with having a lot of bad things happen over the last 20 years I’m waiting for that real blessing, the rose in the thorns kinda thing. Instead I find myself thinking the other shoes gonna drop b/c it’s all about waiting right now for Gods timing in everything. None of t makes sense how it’ll work out but I don’t hear God telling me to walk away and so I wait…and wait…and then at times fear sets in telling me waiting means something bad will happen. It’s a daily battle to let go and trust and know God knows…and I have to be patient, oh how I need a daily (sometimes hourly) reminder of that!!!

  38. Number 1 & 2 identifies how I’ve felt and thought of as my husband and I seek God for an answer to my infertility.

  39. Misconception #1 hits home the most for me (but like the other commenters I could have selected more than just one). I’m a worrier, and a second-guesser. In my current circumstances I wonder if I made the wrong choice, did I hear God correctly concerning my current job situation? And my husband’s? We are in a wait and see chapter in our lives right now. And it is HARD.

  40. Definitely #2 for me! In my waiting, which is so very hard for a non-patient girl, I consistently am asking God if this is the path he wants me on. And when I am STILL waiting, I ask if this is the path he DOESN’T want me on! Figure I might as well try both options…just in case.

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