God trains us through waiting.

On the day I started writing this post, I was waiting for God to answer a prayer. You see, Trudi and I have been leading up a residential discipleship community of Christian college students (known as “The Berdhouse”) for the past eight years while I have continued to teach full-time at Ŕ¶Ý®ĘÓƵ. When our insurance company decided to leave California — and drop our insurance — we found ourselves in insurance purgatory. Following three weeks of prayer and waiting, and after being turned down by fifteen insurance agencies, a one-year solution (pre-approval) emerged. But when our agent began filling out the actual application, he discovered that the underwriters had made an error. When he pointed out the error (something he had to do), the underwriters apologized profusely…and then refused to insure our property. Consequently, as I write these words (see more below), we are rather anxiously waiting once again. Without insurance, we cannot maintain a mortgage, and without a mortgage, we cannot continue to live on our property, which means we may have to shut down this discipleship ministry. We have less than three weeks to resolve this dilemma. We are waiting…and praying…and waiting…and praying…

No one likes to wait. But God trains us through waiting. Yes…wait training. Like its homonym (weight training), wait training is one of God’s primary means of teaching us to trust in him rather than in ourselves.

God trains us:

  • As we wait for him to answer prayers.

  • As we wait for the end of suffering.

  • As we wait for the fulfillment of God’s promises.

  • As we wait for our final redemption.

Waiting, it turns out, is a common theme in the Bible. Here are ten beautiful (and challenging) verses that highlight waiting on God. (There are many more in the Bible.)

Be still before the LORD and waitpatiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way… (Psalm 37:7).

But for you, O LORD, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer (Psalm 38:15).

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him (Psalm 62:5).

I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him (Isaiah 8:17).

O LORD, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble (Isaiah 33:2).

…but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31).

The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD (Lamentations 3:25-26).

…we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies…. But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience (Romans 8:23-25).

For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness (Galatians 5:5).

Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand (James 5:7-8).

Now, it’s possible to misunderstand one aspect of waiting. The word “wait” in many of our ears suggests passivity — just hangin’ around until the thing we want to happen…happens. Biblical waiting suggests nothing of the sort. Biblical waiting is eager, it incorporates active prayer, refuses to give in, and presses on in faithful service during the period of waiting.

Jesus illustrated the intentionality and even activity of waiting during one conversation with his disciples shortly before his arrest and crucifixion. Jesus told his disciples to wait for his return. But the waiting he prescribed was not passive. He said:

Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming (Matthew 24:42).

And a few verses later:

Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes (24:45-46).

Jesus then followed up these instructions to be actively waiting with:

  • The Parable of the Ten Virgins (25:1-13), where five of the virgins made sure they brought enough oil for their lamps,

  • The Parable of the Talents (25:14-30), where two servants invested their master’s money and returned double to the master,

  • The Parable of the Sheep and Goats (25:31-45), where the “sheep” fed the hungry, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, and visited prisoners.

Jesus wanted his disciples to wait, but there was nothing passive about the waiting he intended.

Consequently, we faithfully wait, knowing that God is working his sovereign purposes through our waiting, trusting that God will grow us in and through our period of waiting, and looking with hope toward how God might answer our earnest prayers.

On the day I started this post, I wrote that we had reached out to fifteen insurance companies. After contacting more than thirty, we still couldn’t find any insurance company willing to insure our family alongside all eleven college students who are scheduled to live in The Berdhouse this coming Fall. Our insurance agent was able to locate a stop-gap measure that will allow us to move forward with a maximum of nine students, but even this solution is not a good long-term solution. This means that we have more waiting ahead of us — a period of discernment about what God might have for us in the future, and a reasonable chance that a significant change is ahead. Hopefully in the middle of it all, we will experience growth in dependence on the Lord as we (actively, trustingly) wait.

Are you in a period of waiting? Maybe God intends to use your own waiting to train you to trust, guide you toward godliness, and direct you into ever deepening dependence upon your wise and loving heavenly Father.

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