The Worth in Our Waiting by Jenn Hesse
april 17th, 2023 • by jenn hesse
In all my countless trips to the grocery store, I’ve never chosen the checkout lane with the longer line. I’m sure you do the same on your Target runs. When you’re dashing from errand to errand, the last thing you want is to get stuck in the aisle with the shopping cart jam.
Most of us avoid waiting as much as possible. It’s not hard to understand why. At best, waiting is inefficient. More time means less convenience. So we pay extra for two-day shipping, cook casseroles in an Instant Pot, and ask Siri for directions instead of googling them ourselves.
The Ache of Waiting
At worst, waiting feels unbearable. If you’re waiting on a diagnosis for your sick child, for your husband to return from active duty, or to find out if your friend survived a car accident, a delay can make your heart sick.
I’m well-acquainted with the heartache that comes with waiting to become a mom. During my infertility struggles, I cried out to God with questions—mainly “Why?” and “How long, Lord?” Yet instead of giving me reasons or sharing his timeline, God led me to his Word. There I found language for my grief, especially in the Psalms and other passages expressing lament.
Still, waiting was confusing. I couldn’t fathom Lamentations 3:26, “It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.” While I believed God was good, the wait for a baby left me devastated. How could having my hopes crushed year after year be good for me?
“God’s Word shows us that waiting is open season for sanctification. In the interval between wanting and receiving, he actively grows us to become more like our Savior.”
Grace at Work
The Lord gradually opened my eyes to his deeper purposes for that hard season. He wasn’t pressing me under his thumb as a harsh faith lesson. Instead, he wanted more for me than any earthly desire.
Through waiting I came to realize that God’s plan is always the long game. He created us in Christ for good works he prepared beforehand (Eph. 2:10). He is committed to complete the good work he started in us at salvation (Phil. 1:6). By His Spirit we are being transformed into his image from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:18).
Waiting might feel like wasted time to us, when nothing is happening and we’re not able to reach our goals. That’s not how time works with God. His Word shows us that waiting is open season for sanctification. In the interval between wanting and receiving, he actively grows us to become more like our Savior.
We see this truth in Romans 8:28-29. Yes, the passage you’ve heard used as a dismissive platitude really does offer encouragement for our waiting pains. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”
The goodness God intends for us must be rooted in his character, because he is our ultimate good. And one good work we know he’s doing is shaping us to be more Christ-like, to want what he wants and live as he lived. This work of grace continues throughout our lives, shifting our goals from self-prioritizing to God-glorifying. As we move closer to Jesus and align our desires with his, we get to experience resurrected newness of life (Rom. 6:4).
All those hours I spent fretting over my delayed motherhood, the Lord was already changing me. He used waiting as a tool to carve me into a new creation.
“Because Jesus lived, died, and rose again, we have hope that endures forever—past our aches, doubts, worries, and mistakes. That resilient hope gives us courage to trust God in our waiting.”
Confidence to Choose Trust
God works in our waiting t remake us from the inside out. Accepting this truth can make a difference when we find ourselves in a painful holding pattern.
At the organization I work with, Waiting in Hope Ministries, we have a saying on repeat: “We don’t get to choose our waiting, but we do get to choose how we wait.” Waiting is almost always involuntary. Remember how I strategically steer away from long cashier lines? That’s how all of us tend to approach life. We treat time as an enemy instead of an opportunity.
In this broken, dark world we do face trials that threaten our peace, joy, and hope. Yet as followers of Christ, we’ve been freed from our real enemies, sin and death. The threat of time is empty; it can hurt but not undo us.
Because Jesus lived, died, and rose again, we have hope that endures forever—past our aches, doubts, worries, and mistakes. That resilient hope gives us courage to trust God in our waiting. If he says it’s good to wait on him, then it is good, just in ways we might not see or feel. This is the confidence God provides when we’re crushed by the burden of time: “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16).
Whatever you’re waiting for, know that God is transforming you through this process. Time marches on, but it can’t steal hope from you. Waiting gives you more—more dependence on the Lord, more time to grow spiritually, and more opportunities to choose trust over fear.
Jenn Hesse is the coauthor of Waiting in Hope: 31 Reflections for Walking with God Through Infertility. She serves as content director at Waiting in Hope Ministries and has a passion for equipping others to know Christ through his Word. Jenn and her husband and three sons live in the wet wonderland of the Pacific Northwest. Connect with her at jennhesse.com and on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
MORE FROM JOURNEYWOMEN
IMPORTANT NOTE
Journeywomen articles are intended to serve as a springboard for continued study in the context of your local church. While we carefully select writers each week, articles shared on the Journeywomen website do not imply Journeywomen's endorsement of all writings and positions of the authors or any other resources mentioned.
