Three Things Not To Do While Waiting

Hello beloved child of God, I hope you’re fine by God’s grace and I hope you’ve had an awesome week.

Have you ever had to wait for something? Have you ever been in a season of waiting? I think that somehow everyone is always in a season of waiting.

You may have prayed to be in a relationship, and waited, but now that you’re in a relationship you’re waiting to get married. You may have prayed to be married and waited, but now that you’re married, you’re praying and waiting to have kids. You may have prayed to graduate and waited, but now that you’ve graduated you’re praying and waiting to have a job.

We’re always in a season of waiting. In some areas of our lives we are living the answers to what we prayed for, while in other areas we’re still waiting for the manifestation of what we prayed for.

Since we’re all waiting for something, it’s good to know what NOT to do while waiting. As such, today we’ll discuss about 3 things not to do while waiting. I got these from The Bible and from my personal experience, what I’ve been learning through my seasons of waiting.

1. Complaining

Numbers 14:1‭-‬4 NIV

That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

Numbers 11:1 NIV

Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord , and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.

To complain means to express dissatisfaction or annoyance about something.

When we’re waiting for something to come to pass, it’s very easy to be so focused on that thing. In this line, we tend to look at all what’s not working as we would like it to work, and to wonder about how things would be if we already had what we were waiting for.

While being in the middle, it’s very easy to notice every negative thing and to get in a cycle of complaints. Complaining to people, complaining to God, complaining to everyone who may listen to us and even to those who don’t want to listen.

The Israelites complained a lot while being in the desert. That’s how they ended up spending 40 years in the desert instead of 11 days.

When we are complaining, we speak negatively about God. “God why don’t You care?” , “God, why did You allow that?”.

God didn’t like the fact that the Israelites complained as if they didn’t remember all the good things He had done for them by taking them out of Egypt. When we complain, we put God’s goodness and God’s abilities out of the equation.

2. Comparing

Exodus 20:17 NIV

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Proverbs 14:30 NIV

A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

Another thing which is so common in seasons of waiting is comparing. Even when you don’t want to compare you obviously hear news about how things are going well in other people’s lives.

While you’re still looking for a job, you hear about someone else who was your classmate who’s already found one.

While you’re still praying to find someone who will court you, your best friend is telling you that she was proposed to and she said yes.

While you and your spouse are praying since two years to have your first child, you come across a post on social media where a couple shares about how they got pregnant on honeymoon.

Somehow, we will always hear about someone else who is living our dream, who is experiencing what we are praying and waiting for. We don’t always choose which news we will hear, but we can choose how we react.

If you start comparing your life to that of other people, it will steal your joy and it will only make you more bitter while waiting.

“God why did they get that and not me?”

“God wasn’t I faithful in serving You? Why did You give it to them and not to me?”

When we’re comparing this way, we are telling God “You are unfair. I should have had this.”

3. Despairing

Another thing which we do while waiting is feeling desperate.

I can get really overdramatic when I don’t get what I want.

Exodus 16:2‭-‬3 NIV

In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord ’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”

The Israelites got really over dramatic while in the desert. They just started speaking negatively about how they would all die in the desert. They lost ALL hope, and just went into a cycle of negatives.

Faith requires that we keep believing that what God said would come to pass and that the best possible scenario would come to pass, but when waiting gets tough, we forget about God’s promises and we think of the most negative and desperate outcome.

This shows complete lack of trust in God and it only makes the waiting process more bitter and more painful.

Conclusion

Waiting is easy for no body, but complaining, comparing and despairing don’t make the waiting process easier, it just makes you bitter and it feeds your distrust in God.

Next week God willing we will talk about 3 things to do while waiting.

Prayer

Father Lord God Almighty, King of Glory, I confess that while I am waiting for ___________, I have complained about my situation, compared myself to others, despaired and lost hope (totally or partially), instead of trusting You and holding on to who I know You are. Father forgive me, and help me wait well, in Jesus Christ’s Name. Amen.

It’s Now Your Turn

What are you waiting for right now?

Are you complaining, comparing or despairing? Which one do you relate to the most?

Bible Study

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God bless you

Victoria Eyog