Hoping & Waiting

We did it.  We survived the year 2020!  What an unexpected year it was, too.  I hope this finds you healthy, safe, and ready to begin a new trip around the sun.

For the last couple years, my sister-in-law and I have chosen a “word for the year.” It’s just a word that we want to focus on and explore, and hope it can be used by God to grow us in our faith.

While I decide on my new word for 2021 (check back in a few days for that reveal), I continue to see my current word, “HOPE” arise in many places (even the name of my Blog!). It seems to have been the appropriate word for 2020, as many people across the world have needed it...and even more have lost it. People have lost hope in their governments, their societies, their communities, and even in their own futures, as everyone has been trying to avoid or conquer the Covid-19 virus.

Sometimes the words “hope” and “wait” walk hand in hand.  I think of when people in the Bible hoped for things to happen; they understood it could mean waiting for a while in order to see the outcome: waiting for days, years, even centuries!  We (in America, at least) have become a very impatient culture, and just the thought of waiting for things puts us on edge.  Never mind the fact that many times the one we are waiting on is God.  Now, God is certainly worth waiting for, because He always keeps His promises and He knows what is best for each of us… the problem is that sometimes what WE think should be done in a situation is not what God has planned.  For example, we treat God like a genie in a bottle, expecting He will give us our every wish, but He doesn’t work like that. God is outside of time and He sees the “big picture” of our lives and acts accordingly. In fact, sometimes He lovingly doesn’t give us our desires as it would not be good for us in the long run.

Even believing God knows best, I totally understand how hard it is to wait for things; especially when we feel like those things are important to our lives, or could potentially help others.  We also want things to happen quickly so we will be sure to experience/enjoy them. The reality, however, is that there are times when we will not see the answer to our hopes and dreams during our lifetime. God may choose to answer certain requests after we are gone. God’s timing is NOT our timing!  It is nothing for Him to wait years or centuries to bring about His plans. But that doesn’t mean we should trust God any less. Our future is in God’s hands and we have a hope of eternity in heaven with Him. But we must wait.

What are you hoping - and possibly waiting - for? Are you praying for a miracle? A healing?
A restored relationship?  Give it to God and let Him decide the timing.
Then you know it will be perfect.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!