I was in that place of discouragement. God had promised me healing, hope and that good things were coming.

Yet, it seemed that the very opposite was happening. In the last seven years, we had experienced trauma after trauma, the death of my nephew and circumstances that screamed the opposite of God’s promises. I knew deep in my heart that God’s promises are true yet, I struggled with discouragement and the fact that the promises of God seemed so very far away.

How would I stand through these trials? Were there more coming?

Sometimes I felt like I couldn’t go anymore.

 I cried out to God for encouragement. I gave him the discouragement I had been struggling with and asked him to help me move forward.

And one day, a woman from my church came with an encouraging word, something that I clung to for years.

 She said, “God has not forsaken you. He has not forgotten you. There’s something in front of you.”

 And then she proceeded to speak a verse out of her mouth that God had given to me in my quiet place with him, something I had not told anyone. I knew it was a confirmation.

From this word, I knew God saw the place where I had been struggling, weeping, waiting, and wondering when God, when?  How much longer?

Have you, dear sister, have you been waiting for God to do something in your life?

Do the promises that God has made to you seemed far off, even unseen?  Today, we’re going to talk about five things you can do when you’re waiting for God.

This is a season

The first thing to remember is that you are in a season, seasons come and seasons go. You will not always be here. God will not leave you here. Remember that there are no orphans in God’s kingdom. You are his child, and God does not abandon his child. Hebrews 13:5 NIV says I will never leave you nor forsake you.

God will not leave you here. He is with you, even if you’re going through trials and brokenness and pain, he is with you. His presence is with you. He’s carrying you through. And dear sister, I cannot explain or know why we go through the things we go through, but I know that is a season.

You will not always be here.

Focus on Scripture

The second thing you can do is to focus on scripture about God’s love for you and the promises that he has given to you.

Take some time and memorize those scriptures, speak them out loud, speak them over yourself, keep those scriptures in your eyes. Keep them in your ears.

There was a time that I was really struggling with this situation in my life. I posted a scripture that dealt with that circumstance on my bathroom mirror. And as I was getting ready in the morning, I would say that scripture over and over  while I was putting on my makeup and doing my hair, I would just say that scripture and keep speaking it over and over.

For about a month, I did this, and I realized that after a month, this situation had not changed, but I had so much more peace about it. I had so much more peace that God was with me.

 And so dear sister, if you focus on those scriptures, focus on God’s truth, it will chase away the anxiety and the fear and the depression and the discouragement that the enemy wants to bring you through when you’re waiting for God.

Stay Close to God

The third thing you can do is to stay close to God, make sure that you have your daily prayer and devotion time spending some time and worship and letting God speak to your heart, read his word, soak it in and let him speak to you through the word about what you’re going.

Ask for Encouragement

The fourth thing that you can do when you’re waiting for God is to ask for encouragement.  When you are weary, James 4:2 tells us that we do not have, because we do not ask.

 So ask the Lord for encouragement. When we are dealing with discouragement, it is so easy to just focus on that discouragement, to focus on the circumstances that are around us.

We can get so caught up in the circumstances around us that it’s like we’re sinking into this quicksand of, of darkness and Mire. And especially when we’re going through things that are just hard. But if we ask the Lord for encouragement, he will answer that prayer. Like that woman came to me with, with that word that was encouraging to me.

And another time I actually was working on my first book, and I was struggling with some of the writing and I just lifted up the discouragement and the questions that are on my heart to God. And as soon as I finished that prayer, my son came running up the stairs from outside. My kids had been playing outside and my son came running up the stairs so fast that I thought someone was hurt.

I got up and he said, “Mom! Mom! You need to come see this!”

 And so, I walked outside with my son and there over my house was a double rainbow, right after I had asked those questions of God. And I felt so strongly that this was an encouragement to me.

That God’s promises to me were true.

 He would make it happen, and to continue on with what I was doing.

I actually took a picture of that double rainbow and it hangs in my entryway to always remind me that what God says is true and will come to pass.

That picture is just such a reminder for me. So, ask for encouragement when you are weary, when you are questioning, when you are discouraged, ask him for encouragement and he will answer you dear sister, because you are his precious daughter.

You Will Not Always Be Here

The fifth thing that you can do is remember that you will not always be in this broken place. You will not always be dealing with these trials.

As you follow him, God will lead you out.

As you follow him, God will show you and walk you into the future that he has for you beyond what you are suffering in this moment, there will be a day that you will look back from a place of having overcome what you’re going through now.

 So dear sister, remember that you will not always be in this broken place.

A Few Scriptures

And I’d like to leave you with just a few verses about waiting for God. There are so many verses, but here are just a few.

For, I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

  He has made everything beautiful in its time.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 ESV

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall Mount up with wings like Eagles. they shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint

Isaiah 40:31 ESV

Can I pray for you today?

 Father God, I pray for my dear sister in Christ.

I pray father, where she has been discouraged, where she has felt like your promises are just so far away, I pray that you would come near to her with your presence and you would show her that you see her, you see her weeping, you see her discouragement, you see the questions that are on her heart.

 And I pray father that you would bring encouragement to her today.

I pray father in Jesus’ name that you would encourage her through your word, and by bringing scripture to her mind, that you would speak to her through sermons and podcasts and books. Lord, show her that you see what she’s going through. Show her that your promises to her are true and they are on their way.

Father. I pray that you would give her patience to wait for you and not try to do things on her own. I pray father that you would show her who you are, help her to remember that this is only a season. Help her to remember that she’s not an orphan and that you will not leave her here and you have not abandoned her.

I pray that you would give her what she needs today in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.