I thought my long season of waiting on God meant He had forgotten His promise to me. Then I read scripture and realized God uses seasons of waiting to build faith, character, and hope. We all may be waiting for different things and enduring different tests, but God is the same and His word is the same to all of us.
As a student, I really liked taking tests. It was my chance to show off for the teacher. I got to show them that I had paid attention and learned the lesson they had been teaching. I loved fill-in-the-blank tests! They were way more challenging than multiple choice tests.
Fill in the Blanks
Recently, the Lord gave me a fill-in-the-blank test that, I must admit, I didn't like very much. While reading through the book of Romans, I came across these verses in chapter 4 about Abraham and his faith: “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations… Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead… and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet, he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised” (Romans 4:18-21).
When I read these verses, I was in a season where I was struggling to trust that God keeps His promises. As a thirty-something single lady, I was finding it hard to believe that God had a good plan for me. Just as God told Abraham that he would be the father of many nations, I had once believed that God had promised good things for my future. However, after years of waiting on God to move, that belief diminished, and my faith became faulty. I no longer believed that God cared about this area of my life. You may know what I mean—you have been waiting for God to fulfill His promise to save a loved one, or you’re waiting for God to provide a husband or a child, or maybe you’re waiting for God to show up financially.
Hope in the face of “impossible”
It was here, in the middle of my waiting, and despite my wavering faith, that God popped His little quiz. He told me to “fill in the blanks.” Just as Abraham had to “face the facts” that made God showing up seem very unlikely, so did I. Abraham had very significant reasons to doubt God’s promise. Every circumstance surrounding the situation screamed that God coming through was impossible. However, Abraham “in hope believed.”
So the Lord had me put my specific situation into these verses: “…Without weakening in her faith, she faced the fact that she’s been single for a long time and that there are no godly single guys currently in her life. Yet, she did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God…being fully persuaded that God had the power to do what He had promised.”
It doesn't really matter what your blanks are. Our God is faithful, and we can count on Him to keep his promise just like He said He would, even if our current situation seems impossible. God loves working in the middle of "impossible" circumstances. Just like Abraham, our circumstances may point against everything God says is true. But God, is Lord over our circumstances and shows up in perfect time.
