While You're Waiting On The Promise

Has God ever promised you a blessing and then made you wait for it?

I knew when I boarded the plane for Denver in 2010 that God had a purpose for me at the conference hosted by the Christian Writers Guild. I was certain I'd find a publisher for my western romance series! But I left the conference having received interest from only one publisher, who eventually turned me down.

I went home confused, because years earlier God had called me to be an author. So why wasn't He making it happen? Or maybe I had heard him wrong. I began to doubt ability to write well and my ability to hear God. 

I tried to remain positive and patient. Many people in the Bible were given a promise and then had to wait for the blessing. My husband reminded me it was years before Jacob married Rachel, before Joseph was released from prison, and before David was crowned king.

Eventually I began to see that when God tells you to wait, He really means w ... a ... i ... t.

So why the wait?

Because the Christian life is about developing faith and coming to know God on a deeper level, not simply accomplishing great works. 

The waiting period is really the pruning period, where God teaches us to let go of our old sinful habits and grow in our faith. Time is necessary to prepare us, to build character, and to get us ready to handle the blessing. He's more concerned with what we learn along the way than the actual blessing He promised.

There have been several things in my adult life that God has made me wait for. I heard a preacher say once that God "deliberately delays deliverance" from our trials. God wants us to trust Him when the end goal seems impossible to reach, when we're exhausted and nothing is working out like we planned. He waits until the last minute to come through for us so He can get the greatest victory and the most glory. 

He waits until there is absolutely no doubt that He's the reason we reached the other end of the dark tunnel.

After years of waiting for God to open the right doors, I've now published a few novels. While I would've preferred an earlier publishing date, I've learned that God is in the waiting just as much as He's in the blessing. God just wanted to make sure my desire to be an author hadn't become more important to me than my relationship with Him.

What has God promised you?

Are you focusing on Him during the journey, or the promised result?

Blessings, Jen

(this post first appeared on momsoffaith.com)