The God Who Waits

Have you ever had a season in your life where you felt like God had abandoned you? Maybe that season was filled with depression, sickness, loss, loneliness, or maybe even just silence? 

There have been seasons like that for me, and instead of drawing closer to God, I got angry at Him. Those seasons were filled with a lot of yelling at Him in my car, running to people, substances, and old addictions instead of Him. Which then turned my ‘quiet season’ into a destructive season. 

I was headed into my last year of college and I was at my wits end. I hadn’t heard, felt, or seen God in my life for over a year and I was about to quit. My family and I were driving back from a vacation, and I told my parents, “when I graduate college, I don’t know if I will walk across that stage a Christian.” My Dad whipped his head around and said, “that’s not who you are, and that’s not who God has called you to be.” I was furious at these words, because I was 19 and thought I knew exactly who I was (so funny right). I went home that night and looked back at photos of myself before this dry season and I began to cry. I had no idea who that girl was in those pictures, and I missed her dearly. I had run so far from God, and I felt like I was beyond repair. I remember crying out to Him that night saying, “Lord, if you’re real, then I need you to show up in my life.” 

Oh boy, did He not only show up, but He radically changed my life. I walked in that year with a fresh set of eyes, and God brought me to people who quickly ended up changing the course of my life. I walked across that stage not just a Christian, but a redeemed believer of Christ. 

Some of my favorite things to do when I feel like God is being particularly quiet is look back at old journal entries from when I was in High School and College. It is so fun to read them and go, “thank you Jesus for saving me from this season.” It helps me to take a step back and trust that God has got it ALL figured out. 

In John 11 we read about the story of Lazurus. Jesus heard Lazarus was sick, instead of going to him right away, He waited. When he got to Lazarus, Mary and Martha were distraught because Lazarus had died. Jesus wept. Then within moments Jesus told Mary to turn the stone away, and as she did, Lazarus was raised from the grave! Growing up I always wondered why God waited, but now I know. He was on God’s time, not our time. 

The question is, was it worth the wait? Was the wait beneficial? 

IF Jesus would have come 5 days earlier NONE of this would’ve happened! Jesus could have healed him, but at this point in Jesus’ ministry He had healed hundreds of people. Raising someone from the dead both then AND now is nothing short of a miracle! When witnessing and hearing about this miracle, people either fell on their face proclaiming that Jesus is the son of God, or they turned away from Him and called Him blasphemous. Which is EXACTLY what needed to happen in order for Jesus to pay for our sins on the cross! 

God waited so that the world could see HIS great power! I often see that God revealed His power in my life, and I can guarantee if you take a look back at yours you will be able to see the same things! 

My life is truly a testimony of God’s great power, I was once dead in my sin, but now I am alive in Christ. This could not have happened if he had not waited.