Restful Anticipation Devotional: Find Contentment in Seasons of WaitingSample

It’s easy to fall prey to thinking others hold our future—our spouse, our kids, our boss, the economy, the government, our desires. But the truth is, God is the one who holds our future, and He is the one who holds our heart. He is the only one who can bring us grace and strength to meet all the unknowns that lay ahead.

If fellow waiting-people are anything like me, we’ve come to the place where we no longer want what we’re waiting for to take center stage. It plays a part, but we don’t want it to have the leading role anymore. When Jesus is at the center, our soul finds rest.

Often, we become so consumed with wishing our circumstances were different that we miss out on the opportunities to serve God right where we are. I want a heart that is willing to be faithful to God in all seasons, not just in the seasons I planned.

Charles Spurgeon says, “If the Lord Jehovah makes us wait, let us do so with our whole hearts; for blessed are all they that wait for Him. He is worth waiting for. The waiting itself is beneficial to us: it tries faith, exercises patience, trains submission, and endears the blessing when it comes. The Lord’s people have always been a waiting people”

The Lord’s people are waiting people, that’s me, and that’s you! He calls us His own and assigns purpose to our wait. I take comfort knowing there are more waiting people out there reading these words with their own unresolved endings. We may never meet face-to-face, but we share a determination to find beauty in our open-ended stories. King David’s words in Psalm 27:14 bring encouragement, “Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

When we shift our focus, waiting no longer becomes necessary drudgery; it becomes a lifestyle of confident expectation in the Lord. No matter how many detours and delays you face, I pray you find your happy ending in Restful Anticipation.

Prayer:

God, I thank you for all the lessons you’ve taught me in my waiting season. You’ve grown my character. I’m not the same person that I was when I started. And even though this unresolved ending isn’t what I anticipated, help me fix my eyes on you, the author and finisher of my faith. Don’t waste my wait. Help me to know you like I’ve never known you before. Help me to find the beauty in this story, not the one I wish I had. Help me to live every moment in restful anticipation. Amen.