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Waiting Without Losing Heart · Fostering Faith

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  So welcome back to fostering faith. I'm gonna
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  be your host Tracy and welcome here to fostering
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  faith where we are fostering our faith together
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  We don't have it all figured out But we are walking
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  in faith together because we are better together
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  and so in this episode 2 of October We are waiting
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  without losing heart and so in this episode waiting
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  can feel passive But biblical waiting is an active
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  posture of trust through high back at Abraham
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  and Sarah and Jesus parables of the persistent
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  widow I'm gonna explore the difference between
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  faithful waiting and frantic striving. And so
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  hopefully you're gonna learn how to keep praying,
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  resist comparison, recognize premature solutions,
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  and build a practical waiting rule for the weeks
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  ahead. And so again, welcome back to Fostering
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  Faith. I'm gonna be your host Tracy, and we're
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  gonna be in week two of our series, When God
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  Feels Silent. Faith. in the waiting. And so last
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  week we made room for the honest question, God,
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  where are you? We learned how to lament through
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  pain and keep talking to God, even whenever we
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  feel like he's silent, but he's not absent. And
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  so today we're gonna be talking about what happens
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  when the silent lasts longer than we expected.
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  And most of us can wait if we know exactly how
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  long the wait will be. 10 minutes in the store,
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  three days for a package, two weeks for test
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  results. A clear ending gives us something to
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  count on, to look forward to. But spiritual waiting
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  rarely comes with a countdown clock. You may
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  not even know the relationship will heal when
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  the door will open, when the diagnosis will change,
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  when the grief will soften, and when the direction
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  will become clear. And the longer we wait, the
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  more tempting it becomes to force movement just
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  as we can feel in control. In our anchor scripture,
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  passion says, rest in God alone, my soul, for
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  my hope comes from him. Waiting asks a difficult
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  question. Is my hope in God or only in the outcome
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  I want God to give me? And so let's pray. Father,
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  you know how tired we become in long seasons.
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  Strengthen the person who feels close to giving
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  up. Show us the difference between faithful action
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  and fearful striving. Help us wait with open
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  hands, attentive hearts, and honest hope. In
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  Jesus' name I pray, amen. And so waiting is not
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  doing nothing. The biblical word translated wait
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  often carries a sense of hope, expectation, and
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  trust. Waiting on God is not spiritual laziness.
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  It is refusing to run ahead of him while remaining
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  faithful to what he has already promised in front
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  of us. In Habakkuk, it begins to ask how long
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  God will allow violence and injustice. God answers,
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  but the answer includes more waiting. And then
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  in chapter two, the prophet says he will stand
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  at the watch post, a station himself on the tower,
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  and he will wait and watch to see what God will
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  say. That posture is active. Habakkuk is alert.
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  He's listening. He is positioned. He is not confused
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  waiting on disengagement. When God tells him
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  to write the vision clearly and says that even
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  if it delays, he should not wait for it, the
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  righteous person will live by faith. Faith lives
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  in the gaps between God, what God has and what
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  he said and what we can see. So in that gap,
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  here's Some emails to send, applications to complete,
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  conversations to have, appointments to attend,
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  boundaries to set, meals to make, children to
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  care for and work to do. Waiting on God does
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  not mean neglecting today's obedience because
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  tomorrow is unclear. The question is not, can
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  I do anything? The question is, what is mine
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  to do today? And what am I trying to control
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  that belongs to God? And so temptations are everywhere.
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  Temptations to manufacture answers is because
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  we have really no patience. And so we can see
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  this even whenever we look back into scripture.
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  As we walk back through Abraham and Sarah, they
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  received God's promise for a son, but years passed.
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  In Genesis 16, Sarah proposed a plan involving
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  Hagar, and Abraham agreed. And so if you don't
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  know that story, go back and read it. They attempt
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  to secure the promise through their own arrangement,
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  through deep pain to everyone involved. And we
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  should read that story with care because Hagar
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  was a vulnerable person who suffered under the
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  choice of others. And God saw her. The point
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  is not to reduce her life to an illustration.
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  The story shows that a human cost can follow
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  when fear, power, and impatience are combined.
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  We also manufacture answers. We accept a relationship
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  we know is unhealthy because loneliness feels
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  unbearable. When we call a reckless decision
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  quote -unquote faith because waiting feels humiliating,
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  we twist circumstances into signs. We pressure
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  people for certainty that they cannot give. We
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  lower our clear biblical boundaries because shortcuts
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  looks like relief. And not every open door is
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  God's direction. And not every delay means that
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  you should push harder. Before making a major
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  decision in the silent season, ask, does this
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  choice agree with scripture? Is this honest,
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  wise, loving? Am I acting from peace and conviction
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  or panic and scarcity? Have I invited counsel
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  from a mature person who is willing to tell me
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  no? Oftentimes, whenever we want something, we're
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  going to go to somebody that... agrees with us.
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  And so making sure that we're picking mature
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  people that know faith, that know scripture,
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  and they're not afraid to tell you no. And so
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  giving that permission, the authority for people
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  to speak no into your life is so, so important.
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  Waiting becomes dangerous when desperation makes
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  every option look like permission. And oftentimes
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  we reach into scripture and we pull out something
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  to make our sin look okay. And so persistent
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  prayer is not pressure. And so in Luke 18, Jesus
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  tells a parable about a widow who repeatedly
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  appears to an unjust judge. Jesus says the point
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  is that his disciples should always pray and
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  not give up. The parable does not teach that
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  God is a reluctant judge. We must wear down.
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  Jesus is making a contrast. Even if the unjust
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  judge eventually responds, how much more can
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  God's people trust justice and care from the
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  righteous Father? Persistent prayer does not
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  manipulate God. It keeps our relationship with
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  God open through time. And we've talked about
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  this on this podcast before. Our prayers, our
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  persistent prayers, our prayers that seem like
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  begging and we have tears and we have all the
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  things and we have, we're fasting, we're reading,
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  we're doing all the things. And our persistent
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  prayers go unanswered. Just because you persistently
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  pray, you are not going to manipulate God. He
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  is unchanging. He is the same God that he was
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  with Moses and Abraham that he is today. And
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  thankfully so because we don't want our... prayers
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  on a Tuesday to change him, because the whole
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  point of prayer is to change us. And there's
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  a difference between repetition and performance.
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  Jesus warns against empty phrases meant to earn
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  attention, but he also prays repeatedly in Gethsemane.
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  Paul asked more than once for his thorn to be
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  removed, and the Psalms return to the same cries.
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  You are allowed to ask again and again and again.
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  He were allowed to bring the same thing, the
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  same name, the same need, the same tears. Persistence
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  is not proof that God forgot the first prayer.
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  It is the way of refusing to let disappointment
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  close your heart, because whenever you're in
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  prayer, your heart is open to God. And at the
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  same time, persistent prayer includes surrender.
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  Jesus prays, if it is possible, let this cup
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  pass for me, yet not as I will, but your will.
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  Surrender is not pretending that we don't care.
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  It is placing what we care about in our father's
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  hands. And so waiting becomes especially painful
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  when someone who receives what you wanted. They
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  announced the pregnancy, they got the job, their
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  ministry is growing, their child came home, their
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  test was clear, and the relationship has been
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  restored. and you can be grateful for that other
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  person and grieve for yourself at the same time.
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  Those emotions can exist together. What matters
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  is what you do with them. Comparison turns another
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  person's blessing into evidence against God's
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  goodness towards you. It says that they are limited
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  supply of grace and someone else received your
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  portion, which is absolutely not true because
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  we serve a God who is mighty and big and he has
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  no limitations. He has grace and mercy for all
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  of us because we are all listening to this podcast
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  because he's given us another day. His grace
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  is abundant and new every day. But the other
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  person's timeline is not a prophecy about yours.
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  Your story cannot explain what God is doing in
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  you. When comparison arises, blame them honestly
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  if you can. And so if you cannot yet celebrate
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  publicly without unraveling, choose a quiet prayer
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  and give yourself an appropriate space. Then
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  bring your grief to God or a trusted person.
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  You don't have to shame yourself and having a
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  tender place. I mean, in that same instance,
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  like whenever we see people others victory. It's
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  gonna be hard at first, and that's okay. God
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  is changing us every day. And so taking that,
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  like, why did they get that and I did it? You
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  can take all that stuff to God. You can lament
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  to God. You can tell Him everything because He
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  already knows. But in that same instance, the
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  door is open. The veil has been torn. We don't
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  have to hide anything from Him. The work that
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  God does while we wait is the most often life
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  -changing. And we often imagine that only meaningful
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  work is the answer at the end. But scripture
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  shows that God is forming people in the middle.
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  Waiting can reveal what we believe we cannot
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  live without. It can expose entitlement, fear,
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  self -reliance, false identity, and it can grow
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  endurance, empathy, wisdom, prayer, and a deeper
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  knowledge of God. And as we wait, and I've talked
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  about this on the podcast so many times, we wait
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  on healing in this family. We wait on the prayers
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  that we have been praying for for 20 years. But
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  in the waiting, we've grown in endurance. We've
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  grown in empathy. We've grown in sympathy. We've
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  grown in wisdom. We've grown in our prayer life.
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  We've grown to know God deeper. And that doesn't
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  mean the weight itself is automatically good
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  or that every painful delay or specifically designed
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  to teach us a lesson. Although I do think that
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  there's lessons to be had. And if we take those
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  to God, he will teach us if we're willing. We
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  live in a world that is affected by sin, injustice,
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  illness, and other people's choices. But God
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  is able to work within what we did not choose.
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  And Romans five says, suffering produces endurance,
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  character, and hope. It does not say suffering
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  feels good. It says that grace can produce something
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  in us that pain alone could not guarantee. The
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  goal is not to become impressive at waiting.
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  The goal is to become more dependent on Christ
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  within it. And so here's a building waiting rule.
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  And so here is your practice for this week. create
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  a simple waiting rule with four lines. And so
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  in that, we are going to be asking some questions.
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  I will keep asking and write the prayer that
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  you are still bringing to God, okay? And then
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  I will keep obeying, line, name one responsibility
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  or command that is clear today. Three. I will
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  not force. Identify one shortcut, one pressure
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  tactic, or impulsive decision that you refuse.
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  Four, I will receive support. Choose one person
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  who can pray, listen, or help you make wise decisions.
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  Put those four lines somewhere visible. They
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  will not make the wait easy. but they can keep
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  the weight from becoming shapeless. And give
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  yourself some time to reassess practical decisions.
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  Waiting faithfully does not mean remaining indefinitely
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  in danger, abuse, or preventable harm. If your
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  situation involves safety, concerns, health,
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  serious financial risks, seek qualified help,
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  trusting God, and making wise action belong together.
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  And so as we close, ask yourself, What outcome
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  has become the condition for my peace? Where
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  am I tempted to manufacture movement? What obedience
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  is clear today? And who can help me wait wisely?
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  Let's let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, thank
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  you so much for today. Thank you so much for
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  yesterday. Thank you for these listeners. Father,
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  as we bring you the prayer that we have prayed
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  many times. Protect us from giving up. Protect
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  us from forcing what you have not given. Teach
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  us to act faithfully without trying to control
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  every result. Free us from comparison. Give us
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  courage to celebrate others and grace to grieve
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  honestly. From endurance without hardening our
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  hearts, show us today's obedience, today's bread,
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  and today's mercy. Our hope comes from you. In
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  Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you guys
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  so much for listening. If anyone you love is
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  in the waiting season, sit in this episode with
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  a simple message. You don't have to wait alone.
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  Follow Fostering Faith. Visit our Fostering Faith
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  media. and we have those guides to print out
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  and you guys can do that in small group as small
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  group seasons are underway. Hopefully you guys
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  are plugged into your local church and you guys
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  are gonna hopefully go into small groups. And
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  so next week we're gonna be talking about discernment.
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  What to do whenever you cannot hear a clear answer
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  on how to hold on to what God has already made
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  known. Until then, have a great week. We love
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  you guys.