Steadfast Hope in Seasons of Waiting
“We have this hope as an anchor
for the soul, firm & secure.”
Hebrews 6:19 (NIV)
I was privileged to speak at a women’s retreat last weekend. My assigned topic was “Seasons of Waiting,” but I tweaked the topic just a bit to focus on how we can have steadfast hope in seasons of waiting. The truth is that God’s people will constantly be waiting, but God’s people must not be worrying while we wait. God cares about HOW we wait. And He doesn’t want his children “churning and burning” or “stewing and brewing,” which are pretty accurate descriptions of how I usually wait!
J.I. Packer once wrote that biblical hope is “a faith that looks forward.” Biblical hope is a confident expectation that takes God at His Word and is just the opposite of wishful thinking. As Christians, we should be the most hopeful people in the world because we have a living hope (1 Peter 1:3). We also have the:
Hope of God’s Word (Romans 15:4)
Hope of our salvation (Romans 8:4)
Hope of the gospel (Colossians 1:23)
Hope of the resurrection (Acts 23:6)
Hope of Christ in us, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)
So, with all of these available resources, how can we wait hopefully, joyfully, & expectantly?
Here are four very practical strategies that can help us cultivate steadfast hope in seasons of waiting:
Face your fears – Ask yourself, “What am I really afraid of?” Is it the fear of missing out, the fear of not enough, the loss of someone or something? Is it the fear of suffering, fear of failure, or fear of being totally out of my comfort zone? Who or what am I fearing? Identify whatever your fear is, acknowledge it, and lay it before the Lord. The only fear that the Bible endorses is the fear of the Lord. (Proverbs 1:7) We can choose faith, or we can choose fear, but we can’t choose them both at the same time.
Feed your soul – We do this as we:
Read God’s Word – The book of Psalms can be a great comfort in seasons of waiting. Read Psalm 6, 13 and others. You’ll see that Psalmists don’t hesitate to ask the question that all of us eventually ask in long seasons of waiting: How long? But keep reading and you’ll also find that the Psalmists move from questioning God to trusting God.
Pray – Whatever you are waiting on or waiting for, pray it through. Be honest with God and honest with yourself. God can handle our questions, our doubts, and fears. He already knows them anyhow. Tim Keller says, “God always answers prayer the way we would if we knew all that He knows.”
Remember God’s faithfulness – Look back and remember the many ways that God has proved himself in the past. All of us should have memorial stones and stories of God’s faithfulness, protection, provision, and deliverance. Look back to remember, but don’t dwell there.
Fix your focus – Look up! Don’t look around at your circumstances, but keep your eyes up on God Himself. Focus on his character, attributes, faithfulness, goodness, sovereignty, and glory.
Finally, hold onto hope- Hebrews 3:6 encourages us to ‘Hold on to courage and the hope of which we boast.” We can hold on to hope because God is holding onto us. Biblical hope is both an anchor and a lifeline. Steadfast hope is steel for our souls.
One word of caution: Watch out for discouragement! It is the enemy of our souls. In 1 Kings 19 we find the five triggers of discouragement: fear, fatigue, frustration, failure, and loss of focus. Each one of those triggers are expedited in long seasons of waiting. It’s easy to become fearful, weary, frustrated, and lose our focus.
In Christ, we have a steadfast hope and a Savior who waits with us. (Hebrews 10:13) We need steadfast hearts that fear the Lord and nothing else.
“Blessed is the man who fears the Lord; he will have no fear of bad news. His heart is steadfast trusting in the Lord.” Ps 112:7 (NIV)
Steadfast hope is steel to our souls in seasons of waiting.