9 Actions to Take While Waiting
Do you hate waiting? Today we talk about 9 action steps based in Bible stories that you can take while you wait for God to open a door.
9 Biblical Actions to Take While Waiting
Keep Working
Pray
Be Patient in Suffering
Keep the Faith
Repent
Trust in God’s Timetable
Remember Vengeance is the Lord’s
Love and Kindness
Work on obtaining the characteristics like hope, diligence, peace and purity
Psalms 37:7 “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him.”
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Transcription
You can find the transcription of today's episode here: Tamara Anderson 0:03
Do you like waiting? I sure don't. Today we're gonna talk about why waiting is so hard and things we can do to help us feel like we're moving while we're in the limbo of waiting. Stay tuned.
Tamara Anderson 0:23
Welcome to Stories of Hope in Hard Times, the show that explores how people endure and even thrive in difficult times. All with God's help. I'm your host Tamara K Anderson. Join me on a journey to find inspiring stories of hope and wisdom learned in life's hardest moments.
Tamara Anderson 0:48
Hello, and welcome to another episode of the stories of hope in hard times podcast. I'm your host, Tamara K. Anderson. And on today's Tamara's takeaway, we are going to talk about waiting. And if I had to describe waiting, I would say waiting is one of the hardest things because it's like you're anticipating something and either you don't have the answers to take the next step or you're just feel like you're stuck, maybe like you're walking through mud. I don't know what it is about waiting. And maybe it's because we live in such an instant society where we can Google something and have an instant answer. But waiting is hard. Especially when it's waiting for longer than a day or a week or a month when waiting drags on and on and on. And you're like, uh, how do I do this? How do I get through? What can I do so I feel like I'm not just sitting here, stuck.
Tamara Anderson 1:48
And today, I'm going to give you nine tips that we'll talk about things you can do to help you feel like you're making progress while you're waiting, so you don't feel like you're stuck. And I'm also going to bring in some great stories from the Bible, which gives good examples of how people waited with faith and with action. So let's start with tip number one.
Tamara Anderson 2:13
Tip number one is to keep working. And one of the great examples of keep working is Noah. Noah was an amazing prophet who was called to build an ark. And it took him a long time. Did you know that experts estimate that it took Noah between 55 and 75 years to build the ark? That is a really long time to be waiting for something. And waiting and waiting and waiting. I can't even imagine waiting that long for something that would be very, very hard. And yet Noah did it. And what did he do every day? He worked just a little bit. He kept working, he kept taking baby steps of progress. Today, I'm going to build this part, I can do this today.
Tamara Anderson 3:03
And I think we can kind of grab on to what Noah did, and maybe go with, I know God has given me these things to do. And I can work on those while I'm waiting for this answer. Perhaps it is reading your scriptures daily. I can read a few verses of scripture every day while I'm waiting. And that way you're keeping that connection with God. So you don't feel like you're doing nothing while you're waiting. And as long as you're keeping that connection with God, you have that channel open to Him. And that means you'll get the answers faster if you have that channel.
Tamara Anderson 3:40
I had an experience where I had to wait, maybe not as long as Noah did, but I was going to school and I had finally figured out what I was going to major in. It took me about a year and a half to kind of figure out okay, this is going to be my major. And once I had my major, being a planner, I kind of listed it all out, okay, this is the class I'm going to take my semester. And I figured out what my life was going to look like for the next few years. And I remember taking this I was so proud of my plan. And I took it to God. And I said all right, God, what do you think of this plan? And of course, for a while there, there was some silence.
Tamara Anderson 4:19
But within with the week, I went on a walk with my roommate. And I remember standing there overlooking the college campus I was attending. And all of a sudden, I heard a voice in my mind and in my heart it said, "Tamara, you're going to miss this school." And I remember thinking excuse me? What?
Tamara Anderson 4:44
And yet I knew but I'd heard and I knew I'd gotten an answer. The problem was I didn't know what to do next besides I was going to miss where I was. And so the only thing I could figure is that I needed to go home which is took me to some years of waiting. I, I kind of withdrew from the university that I was at. I finished semester and but I canceled my classes for the next semester and I went home and I enrolled in a community college and just kept moving forward with what little information I had. I was taking baby steps of progress with what I could figure out. And, and God did give me the next few steps. But sometimes we have to wait. And we have to keep working while we're waiting, taking just baby steps of progress so that we're making little bits of progress and sometimes it takes little bits of progress to move us forward. miles and miles. Just like Noah moves forward to building a ginormous Ark. God's only giving us tiny baby steps at a time as long as we're willing to take those baby steps.
Tamara Anderson 5:56
So the first tip is to keep working. The second tip is to pray. Pray, pray, pray while you're waiting. I think a great example of this is the prophet Daniel. We've heard the story of Daniel in the lion's den. And I think he is such an amazing example of continual prayer. King Darius was tricked into enacting a law that said if you, you should not pray to anybody besides the king. And after they enacted this law, Daniel knelt down in Daniel chapter six, and he continued with his prayers. It says he prayed three times daily and gave thanks to God. And they caught him praying, of course threw him in the lion's den. And the king was distraught because he loved Daniel. And he prayed and fasted for Daniel. And of course, Daniel prayed and fasted and, and God came and shut the mouth of the lions a miracle happened.
Tamara Anderson 6:59
So, while you're waiting, continue praying, pray morning, noon, and night, like Daniel. Pray in those moments in between, or you're feeling stressed or anxious about a choice that perhaps you're trying to make, but you're not sure what to do. Pray, keep praying, pray as you're working at that previous tip, because God will often guide you as you're trying to make progress. So keep that continual channel of communication open with God. Talk to him about your frustrations while you're waiting, and maybe to give you ideas of what you can do. So keep praying. American author, speaker and missionary Elizabeth Elliot said, "Waiting on God requires the willingness to bear and certainty to carry within oneself the unanswered question. Lifting the heart to God about it whenever it intrudes upon one's thoughts." And so when you worry about the situation you're in, give it to God. Just like Elizabeth said, Don't let worry weigh you down while you're waiting. Give that worry to God. Just say, God, you know where I'm at. You know, I'm worried about this, but I'm going to give it to you while I'm working on this while I'm waiting. Because I know that the way will open up just like an impossible when we opened up for Daniel, I don't think mouths of lions had ever been close to before. But God can work miracles while we wait and pray with faith.
Tamara Anderson 8:29
Alright, so first is keep working. Second pray before, during and after the incident. Third is Be patient and suffering. Oh, there are so many stories of being patient while you're suffering while you're waiting. There's the story of Job. There's the stories of Paul, there's the stories of Joseph in Egypt. There's so many stories in the Bible of being in a suffering situation, and yet waiting patiently on God.
Tamara Anderson 9:02
Joseph of Egypt had a great perspective on it. Of course, after he said in Genesis, chapter 50, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is being done the saving of many lives." And so, looking back, Joseph could see God's hand in bringing him up through the ranks through Potipher's house, into the prison, and then to interpreting Pharaoh's dream and being placed over--being second in Egypt. Being placed over the gathering of the grain and the food so that he could not only save Egypt, but he could also save his father's family.
Tamara Anderson 9:42
So sometimes we have to be patient in those times when we've been falsely accused or put in prison. Like Joseph, maybe we're suffering with an ailment like Job we're many ailments Job was grieving and sick and had so many things happening to him. So the trick here is to be patient in it, to realize God probably has a better and bigger plan.
Tamara Anderson 10:10
My husband and I were in a car accident about 20 years ago and I broke my collarbone in the accident, complete break, my my bones didn't even align. In fact, they healed crooked, you can feel the little bump right here. But I had two little boys at the time. And they were both in diapers. And that was a really long healing process, not being able to use my right arm when I'm right handed, trying to get ready to move my family when I only have one arm to work with. And that was a time of learning to be patient. While I was waiting while I was struggling, not only healing physically, but I was struggling emotionally because we were getting ready to move. And I was struggling because I was having to get help. And so sometimes when we're learning to be patient, while we're struggling while we're suffering, God places people in our path to help us along the way. Sometimes the people open doors for us, like Pharaoh opened doors for Joseph, but we need to be patient while we're suffering and struggling and trust that God has a greater and higher purpose in and through the other side of that.
Tamara Anderson 11:37
Tip number four is keep your faith going. While you're learning so many times when we're struggling, it's easy to have faith for a short amount of time. But then we get frustrated after it carries on for years and years and years and years. Think of people like Hannah and Rebecca who had to wait for children. Think of Anna the prophetess And Simeon who had been promised that they would see the Savior and witness him. And they had to wait for decades. Think of Abraham and Sarah who were promised a son. In Hebrews we read that, "Abraham waited patiently and he received what God had promised." They waited 25 years for an heir to be born. And Sarah did eventually give birth to Isaac. And in Genesis 21:1 it says and "The Lord did to Sarah as He had promised." So sometimes, when you're waiting for a really, really long time, it's good to look back on the examples of these faithful people who waited for decades, promises to be fulfilled well for the thing they were waiting for, to come to pass and keep faith that
Tamara Anderson 12:52
God is with you while you're waiting. And to keep moving forward. Their stories didn't end while they were waiting, their stories continued. And they just had to keep moving forward with faith while they were yearning for something.
Tamara Anderson 13:09
Tip number five, while we're waiting is to repent, sometimes we're in a waiting pattern because God needs us to learn something, I want you to pause and think about like the children of Israel wandering in the wilderness, they had to learn something before they could come out on the other side.
Tamara Anderson 13:28
And so sometimes we need to repent. I remember after Nathan was diagnosed with autism, I was really angry with God. And I knew he could heal Nathan. But I didn't understand why he wouldn't. And what I was basically doing is I was pushing my will on God--this is what I want from my life. And you need to give it to me. And so I need to repent and learn to submit to God and say, Thy will be done. Basically, I was stubborn, and I was proud. And I had to gain a greater perspective that God sees the end from the beginning.
Tamara Anderson 14:15
And he knew that I needed to learn something while I was in my wilderness, just like the children of Israel, that I needed to have faith to move towards my Promised Land. And that is that is a hard place to be because it often requires changing our mind and changing our heart.
Tamara Anderson 14:34
And so if you're in a point where you're feeling really frustrated or angry with God, because the situation you're in you feel like you're waiting for a miracle. maybe ask him what do I need to change in myself? Do I need to change how I think about something Do I need to change the way I'm looking at a situation and invite God to change you In your heart while you're waiting, and he will help you with that.
Tamara Anderson 15:05
Alright, step number six is trust in God's timetable. We've mentioned several stories in the Old Testament where God's timetable just took a long time. Think of the people waiting to have children or Esther waiting for her people to be delivered. God's timing is always perfect. And sometimes we feel like a doors being opened and it gets closed. And we're like, gosh, darn it, what is going on here? God, we have to realize that God being God sees the end from the beginning, he sees the way things are supposed to unfold. And we have to trust that his timetable is best. For heaven's sakes, if God can orchestrate that a star appear, the night of his son's birth, and orchestrate that so that the light coming from that star hits your earth right at the right time, he can certainly orchestrate the details of your life.
Tamara Anderson 16:11
And my life, I remember at one point, our family was living in Arkansas, we knew move was coming. And it took about a year and a half for that move to happen. And in that time, we thought we were going to be moving out of the country to England, and had to do a whole bunch of research on that. But right then a recession hit and they stopped all expatriates from moving. And I remember sitting there thinking, I know God wants us to move, but I don't see how or when or where. And I could feel it was going to happen. But I just didn't know when. And so we kept looking and my husband kept applying for jobs within his company and, and eventually a job opened up, they called us up and said, Hey, we need you to move to Texas. And we did. And things fell into place.
Tamara Anderson 17:05
But it took a long time. And I remember sitting there and it just felt like this move was taking forever. And it did. It took us a couple years. And sometimes we've got to trust that God's timing will happen when he needs it to happen. And at the right time. And as I look back on that, and that year and a half, one of my children ended up meeting some very specific therapy and, and we were able to get that therapy completed right before we moved. And so I can see that blessing and miracle that happened. While we were waiting. I can also see blessings and miracles happened while we were waiting and that I was in charge of a Christmas program. And I was able to see that to completion before we moved like the next week.
Tamara Anderson 17:57
And so even though we were waiting, I was moving forward with things that needed to happen in my family's life. And so I look back on it, and I see that God's timing was perfect for that move. But in the moment, it didn't feel very perfect. Going through experiences like that helped me realize that his timing is perfect that perhaps a few more dominoes need to fall before that next step happens.
Tamara Anderson 18:24
Step number seven, vengeance is the Lord. Sometimes we're waiting and we feel like we're stuck because of the actions of another person. And we feel really frustrated with them. I've had several friends who have experienced divorce and sometimes they're tied up in divorce proceedings for so much longer than they wish that they were tied up in these proceedings. And at times like this, it is good to remembers things like the parable of the unjust judge. And Jesus told this parable of the unjust judge he said "there was in a city a judge which feared not God, neither regarded man." And there's a widow in that city. And she came to him like every day saying Avenge me of my adversary. Avenge me of my adversary. And he would totally ignore her for a long time. And finally, he's just like, Oh my gosh, this lady is--she just doesn't stop bugging me. And he goes, I'm finally going to just avenge her of her adversary so she'll quit bugging me. And then Jesus concludes the parable, "Shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night and to him, though he bear along with them. I tell you that he will avenge them speedily." And so if you are struggling, waiting because of the poor choices of someone in your life, just remember to give that vengeance to God, and that He will avenge you. He sees you in your struggles. He sees you In your trials, and He will open the way for your deliverance. Give that to him cry to him day and night, and the door will open up.
Tamara Anderson 20:11
The eighth principle that we can, that will help us while we're waiting patiently on the Lord is the example of David and love and kindness while we're waiting. So David had to wait 22 years to be king of Israel. And while he was waiting, King Saul went from loving David, to hating him because he didn't want to be displaced by David. And David had two opportunities, at least to kill Saul. And he didn't, he didn't kill him. He waited with love and kindness, and respect. Sometimes we need to wait with love and kindness and respect. I love this example in 1 Samuel chapter 24. And David was in a cave hiding from Saul. And Saul with his men came into the cave that night, and David's men kind of fled to the back of the cave so that they couldn't be seen. And David knew he had the opportunity to kill Saul, because Saul was trying to kill him. And yet he told his men, I'm not going to do this. He's the Lord's anointed. And so he came up and he cut a little strip off of Saul's robe, just to show that he could have.
Tamara Anderson 21:27
And as Saul left the next day, David called to him and said, Hey, Saul, I just want you to know that even though you're pursuing me, and people tell you that I am intent on killing you, that I'm not. And he showed him the strip of fabric, he had cut from his cloak and said, See, I could have killed you, but I chose not to. And Saul lifted up his voice, and he wept. He says, "Thou art more righteous than I. And you've rewarded me Good, good, while I've rewarded You evil." And then he said, "may God reward you good, because you've done good to me this day." And so while we are waiting, we can wait with love and kindness in our hearts. And God can help us with that. Because sometimes when we're waiting, it is not fun. And we don't feel like waiting with love and kindness in our hearts. So keep the faith you can do that.
Tamara Anderson 22:26
Well, final way we can wait is by developing qualities within ourselves. And I love the example of us waiting for the second coming of the Lord in the scriptures that gives us really, really great insights into how we can wait and what we should be developing within us as we wait. In 2 Peter, chapter three, verses 10 through 14, It gives us some really good clues as to the qualities we can be developing while we're waiting for Jesus Christ to come again. And I think that working on these qualities within ourselves, helps us helps give us things to work on while we're waiting.
Tamara Anderson 23:06
It says that "the day of Lord will come as a thief in the night." And then Peter asked "what manner persons are he to be?" So he's saying what type of person should you be becoming? While you're waiting for this? And he gives us a couple of really good action words he says "looking for." So we should be looking forward to it or having hope in our souls. And this podcast is all about hope. He encourages us to be diligent, to have peace, and to be without spot or blameless.
Tamara Anderson 23:39
In other words, while we wait, we should develop hope, diligence, peace and purity. Aren't those beautiful qualities to develop while we're waiting? And they're not easy qualities to develop, but it gives us something that we can actively be doing while we're waiting?
Tamara Anderson 23:58
Now, this whole saga began with the verse in Psalm, "Rest in the Lord and patiently wait for him." So guys, patiently waiting is not easy. But these nine tips help us take action steps. While we're waiting. First, keep working. Second, pray. Third, be patient while we suffer. Fourth, keep the faith. Fifth repent. Sixth, trust in God's timetable. Seventh, remember, the vengeance is the Lord's. Eighth wait with love and kindness. And ninth, develop characteristics like hope, diligence, peace and purity while we're waiting.
Tamara Anderson 24:49
In conclusion, guys, Jacob waited for seven years and then seven more years with Rachel. Joseph waited for 13 years. Isaac and Rebecca waited for 20 years, David for 22 years, Abraham and Sarah waited for 25 years. Jesus waited for 30 years. Moses, Caleb and Joshua waited for 40 years. So if you're waiting, you're in good company. And those who have gone before can set a great example for us, and how we can wait patiently upon the Lord. Hope on my friends.
Tamara Anderson 25:28
Hey, thanks so much for listening to today's show. If you like what you heard, subscribe so you can get your weekly dose of powerful stories of hope. I know there are many of you out there who are going through a hard time, and I hope you found useful things that you can apply to your own life in today's podcast. If you'd like to access the show notes of today's show, please visit my website storiesofhopepodcast.com. There you will find a summary of today's show, the transcript and one of my favorite takeaways. You know, if someone kept coming to mind during today's episode, perhaps that means that you should share this episode with them. Maybe there was a story shared or quote or a scripture verse that they really really need to hear. So go ahead and share this podcast. May God bless you, especially if you are struggling with hope to carry on and the strength to keep going. When things get tough. Remember to walk with Christ and He will help you bear the burden. And above all else, Remember God loves you.