There is nothing I’ve waited for longer than a peace-filled family—not a perfect family but a family that loves through the disagreements, hardships, and tragedies as well as the celebrations and triumphs. Healthy conflict resolution has been a very unfamiliar thing to me and my brothers, and as adults we’re only recently starting to learn what that looks like. And we’re fumbling our way toward it.
Recently, our family had to face a significant transition in my parents’ lives, and it was met with resistance. As someone who has been praying over this particular situation, I was beyond discouraged and felt like a failure for not being able to change our family dynamics.
However, God kindly showed me what has changed in the middle of things that feel unchanging: We three siblings have become united in showing compassion to one another through what is sensitive and difficult. We are determined to be there for each other, and this realization has been more than enough when the circumstances are frustrating.
I’m reminded of Anna, who after the death of her husband lived eighty-four years as a prophetess and worshiped God faithfully (Luke 2:36–38). She reminds me of how He surely renews us, giving us His presence in what is disappointing and broken. Whatever gaps I feel in relationships now, I can see how God has re-parented me and fulfilled those needs. God has worked, and here I am with my brothers, resting my heart with the perfect heavenly Father as we wait.
Moreover, He waits with us, carrying us in the mess. I think of Simeon, who waited faithfully for the promised Messiah. He kept showing up and was then able to recognize God’s plan for the world when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple (vv.25–35). While I don’t know what the outcome of our family talks will be, as I wait, He reminds me that He has always been with me, stretching and softening me to become more like Jesus.
In our lives, we practice waiting for Christ as we forgive and worship God. I give thanks to the Father, the one who continues to work in and through us as we wait.
ERB – ❤ So good to see you, sister!
I always feel like I am waiting for something. Waiting for my girls to sleep through the night, waiting to feel fully content in my skin, and waiting to be a better version of myself. I pray that I would know and trust that God is there in the waiting.
I love this, very well said ♥️
@RHONDA J – as I read the title of today’s devotional I thought about the same song. I’m pretty sure you suggested I listen to it a year ago. And now it’s one of go to songs. @MANDY FERRGIA – I completely understand that feeling of waiting but also having a feeling you’re right where you’re supposed to be. God has everything in control and it’s a great feeling when that understanding is gratitude and not pain. I have felt ALOT of pain as I wait to become a wife and hopefully a mother one day but I know each step is part of Gods plan. Praying for you ALL today. Thank you all for the prayers for my sister. She hasn’t moved yet but says she’s still going to but is trying to keep the peace as he said she has to pick between him and her family. Such a sad thing. @MERCY – praying for your aunt and her family. That all is such a heavy and hard thing to go through. Praying even though she might not believe that she feels the spirit.
Yes, we all hate waiting….but I like what GRAMSIESUE said, God is in the waiting. He is waiting there with us. It makes it feel less burdensome when someone waits with you, doesn’t it. Ever wait in a waiting room at the hospital, or waiting in an airport by yourself? nothing like it. But waiting WITH someone is so much better. Someone to talk to, someone to sit beside, someone to hold your seat if you have to go somewhere….. waiting WITH GOD is so comforting. Something I’ve found helpful while waiting (when something is taking a long time), is waiting (like a server) on God. Getting busy with doing something for others, serving God in some capacity make “waiting” so much better. Like Simoen did, he didn’t just find a chair and stare out the window while waiting for the Messiah. He served until he got his answer. That’s the posture I want to have.
❤️
Thanks, Minnie. I can really relate and your words confirmed what the Father has been teaching me. Thanks ♥️
CEE GEE -I listened to the song you mentioned. SO good!! Thank you!!
I’m in a time of waiting right now. I’ve never been good at not knowing how something ends. Even when I read a book, I often take a peak at the ending to make sure everything turns out alright. As I went through the bible passages today and wrote a prayer on waiting, God showed me that He does reveal the end. I know that in the end, everything will work out for those that love Him and He can take what the enemy meant for evil and turn it for good. It does not mean that I will never have hardships or that the situation I’m waiting on will turn out the way I want it to. It means God has my back. I teach kids about writing and one of the main things we talk about is a thesis which tells the the reader where the paper will take them. God has provided the ultimate thesis statement. He is with us in the waiting and He will be there when it is over, no matter the outcome.
When I first became a believer I attended a women’s conference where a woman (who did not even attend the church might I add) felt the calling to stand up and sing Isaiah 40:31. She had the most beautiful voice I had ever heard and I was deeply moved by it (so much I purchased a shirt with the verse on it at the conference and now some 20 + years later I STILL sing this verse out loud. I had no idea that God would change me as he has but I am so grateful for those early moments and the moments yet to come. “… but hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? “ What a beautiful reminder today- can’t wait to look back on this moment and reveal in the beauty of what God has placed before me! He is always working to renew and restore me- thank you God for this revelation and for these women who share Your good works in our lives daily. Happy Thursday She’s