The Waiting Place

For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.

When I was a girl, starting around April, I would wish away the days leading up to summer. I couldn’t wait until school let out so I could begin my two months of long bike rides, frequent pool visits, and late nights spent catching fireflies.

Now that I’m an adult, the hot summer months aren’t as appealing. I find that I’m just as antsy for the next season when the summer heat lingers too long. By the time September rolls around, I’m itching for chilly mornings and comforting soups for dinner, even though where I live we will likely be sporting shorts and sandals until mid-November. When the heat is reluctant to leave, my desire for cooler temperatures overtakes the joy of the season I’m in. But once the long-awaited cold months arrive, I find myself pining for spring.

The changing of the seasons always affects my outlook. Even though I should know by now that the shift is gradual, there’s still a persistent longing in my soul to officially be fully immersed in a new season, to pack up my shorts and pull out my sweaters or to toss aside my sandals and exchange them for boots.

Just as I grumble impatiently under my breath when a meteorological season lingers longer than I’d like, I do the same with seasons of life I wish would pass. The in-between—the waiting place—is often the hardest place to be. I struggle to make peace with circumstances that change slowly while the present discomfort holds on tight.

Seasons come and go—some fast and some slow—because life is constantly shifting and causing shifts in us. In the midst of our waiting places, God is teaching us to see him at work, savor his presence, sit still, and trust his provision (see Psalm 27:14). Tomorrow isn’t ours, and neither is the next season; we only have today (see Matthew 6:34). And in the midst of this day, in this season, God is just as faithful as he has ever been.

God is faithful today, just as he was when Abraham and Sarah waited twenty-five long years for the impossible pregnancy God promised (see Genesis 12:1-7; 21:5).

He is faithful in our waiting place, just as he was when the Israelites trekked in the wilderness for forty years on their way to the Promised Land (see Deuteronomy 8:2).

He is faithful in seasons of slow change, just as he was when Paul desired to reach Rome during his missionary journeys but was stopped multiple times (see Romans 1:13).

No matter the season you are in, God is just as faithful today as he was yesterday and as he will be tomorrow (see Hebrews 13:8).

When you find yourself in a waiting place, remind your soul to slow down, settle in, and believe that he is God and he is good—in every slow-changing season.

Word before World Even when you remain in a waiting place for longer than you’d prefer, you can trust that God is at work and will give you the endurance you need to persevere.

Grow in Grace Make a list of ways God has been faithful in the past, both to you personally and in Scripture. Tape this list to the front of your Bible (or in a place you will regularly see it) as a reminder that even when the changing of seasons is slow, God never changes.