Honoring God in the Wait

Two years ago, an elder in our church taught a class on the book of Job. He’s also an oncologist, so he knows a thing or two about suffering. He has walked hard paths with his patients. All required endurance. His biblical insights combined with his life experiences brought new perspective to Job’s story.

Currently, I am reading through the Job again as part of my One-Year Bible reading plan. In between these two encounters with Job, we have collectively endured a worldwide pandemic. We all have learned a thing or two about suffering and endurance.

Two ideas have captured my attention while reading Job this time around:

How do I honor God while waiting for relief from suffering?
What does it look like to trust God no matter what?

Honoring God Requires Endurance

In my family’s current season of job loss, my focus is on waiting well—honoring God in the wait. Endurance is what I need.

Romans 5:3 (ESV) tells us, “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance.”

Does this mean that building endurance requires suffering?

Maybe. After all, we know that in the physical realm, when we exercise, we push through the pain to build strength and endurance. “No pain, no gain” as the adage goes.

It’s quite likely that the process is no different in the spiritual realm. Building patient endurance requires pushing through the pain, trusting the purpose behind the suffering, and ultimately trusting the one who is sovereignly in control.

Can I just say what we’re all thinking? Knowing this does not make it any easier.

Romans 5 goes on to say that “endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”

I don’t know about you, but I could certainly use a little hope right now. In fact, Proverbs tell us, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Prov. 13:12 ESV). I have experienced this sickness of heart, and I bet you have, too.

We all experience suffering, but the ability to endure, to wait well, honoring God in the wait requires more.

Endurance That Leads to Hope

The endurance that leads to hope must first produce character, and that character produces hope. I love what this author shares about the hope-producing process. It begins with humble honesty, first to God in prayer, and then to select godly friends who can help us. She writes:

We don’t need to share our endurance with our entire community, but finding a few close, godly friends with whom we can be honest will help God build character within us. We can be honest about where we’re having doubts, and we can tell our small circle how we’re working to trust God more.

I find encouragement in the fact that even Moses grew weary and needed help from friends:

So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. (Ex. 17:9-14 ESV)

When weariness sets in, find those trusted friends who can steady you. God intends for us to find our character-building strength within community. I’m so grateful for those who have sustained me in the past and those who are currently linking arms with me as I seek to wait well.

Unfortunately, Job did not find trusted friends to steady him. Instead, he got miserable comforters, a cautionary tale for us on how not to “comfort” those who are suffering! But that is another post for another day.

Waiting Well

Waiting has a way of revealing our deepest beliefs about God. Will he provide? Will he withhold? Does he see us? As we wait, are we becoming more reliant on God or on ourselves?

John Ortberg says, “Who you become while you’re waiting is as important as what you are waiting for.”

May my endurance resemble the patience of Job, who remained profoundly God-centered throughout his suffering. Despite losing everything, including his health, he made these remarkable statements:

“The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21 ESV)

“Though he slay me, I will hope in him.” (Job 13:15 ESV)

“Then Job answered the Lord and said: I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:1-2 ESV)

The story of Job puts our job losses in perspective. God’s purposes for our future are secure, even if things feel shaky right now. Like Job, I know that God can do all things. So I choose to trust him when the answer is no, patiently waiting for the yes that is yet to come, surrendering what I want and exchanging it for whatever he provides.

And he always provides.

Ann Skalaski and her husband of thirty-three years live in Gainesville, FL. They have moved a dozen times, raising three children along the way. They have added a son-in-law, daughter-in-law, and two precious grandsons to the mix. When she is not packing or unpacking, Ann enjoys serving as a mentor mom for MOPS International, joining Bible studies, meeting friends for coffee, taking long walks, and watching lots of football. Ann is passionate about using lessons from her journey to help other women navigate change in their own lives.