If you have ever been in one of life’s waiting rooms, you may have found yourself restless and questioning whether God sees and hears you. This 5-day devotional from MCWEN Founder, Andrena Sawyer, uses lessons from Sarah’s journey to remind those in a waiting season that delay is not denial.
Minority Christian Women Entrepreneurs Network
Day 1
Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 2:9, Isaiah 40:31
More Questions Than Answers
“Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised” -Genesis 21:1 (NIV)
There is nothing more grueling than a season of waiting. It can seem endless and sometimes even pointless. If you have ever had to wait on a promise from God, you might have asked yourself the following questions:
“Why me?”
“Why not now?”
“Why this?”
Many times, it seems like others get exactly what they want when they want it. If you can relate, let me first affirm that you are human. If you have questioned the process or maybe even questioned God, not only are you human, but you are in good company. Over the next few days, we will explore these three questions through the lens of scripture and with the advantage of knowing how the story ends. As uncomfortable as it is, we will see that there is something divine about God-ordained waiting seasons.
What exactly is a God-ordained waiting season? It is what it sounds like – a season of seeming delay that might include or follow a promise from God. It is a season interwoven with episodes of doubt but anchored in an undercurrent of assurance, also known as faith, that God is doing something in your life.
We see it with Abraham and Sarah, Joseph, Moses, David, Job, Hannah, and many others throughout scripture. Over the next few days, we will take a closer look at Sarah, whose wait was less than perfect but redeemed by God. Just as it will for you and me, her wait eventually ends, but not before confronting tough questions of faith, grace, and timing.
Why does God make some people wait? Is it even God, or are our seasons of delay self-inflicted or an indication of demonic influence? These are all valid questions. I pray that by the end of this devotional, you are encouraged by the knowledge that everything God does works for our good. If He trusts you to wait, know that the result will transcend even you.
Day 2
Scriptures: Psalms 37:23, Galatians 3:13, John 8:44, Luke 1:5-7, Luke 1:80
Hard Starts And Good Endings
“But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai.” -Genesis 12:17 (NIV)
“But God came to Abimelek in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.” – Genesis 20:3 (NIV)
One of my favorite scriptures is Psalm 37:23. It affirms the sovereignty of God over our lives. If you are His child, there is no detail that escapes Him.
I know, personally, that one of the hardest parts of waiting is feeling forgotten by God. It is not always easy to see others progressing in life. Because while you, too, may be progressing, that one area of delay outweighs everything else and stirs feelings of inferiority. All of it calls into question God’s knowledge of our whereabouts.
I recall a season of waiting when the enemy kept whispering lies about me not only being forgotten but cursed. Completely forgetting Galatians 3:13, there were no other plausible explanations for what seemed like one delay after another. If you have ever had a similar thought, I want to assure you of two truths.
Truth #1: It is the enemy’s full-time job to lie to you.
In fact, not only is it his full-time job, but he also makes a habit of clocking in overtime. John 8:44 reminds us that the enemy is the father of lies. That is, he is the patriarch, originator, and overseer of anything deceitful. His job is to find and amplify your insecurities.
If waiting makes you feel forgotten, unknown, or inadequate, know that the enemy spends a great deal of time trying to consume you with those thoughts. Once you understand that, it’s easier to call the seasons out for what they are – temporary and not indications of your identity.
Truth #2: Often, when God calls people to divine waiting seasons, He is doing something that will transcend them.
Those called to waiting have not only shifted culture, but they have changed the trajectory of generations. If anyone would understand this, it would be John the Baptist. From birth, his life seemed to be delayed (Luke 1:5-7). His ministry started with him being purposefully hidden (Luke 1:80) – another delay. Yet, he was handpicked and predestined as the forerunner for Jesus Himself. The man who, by natural measures, almost never was, radically shifted culture by preaching and baptizing many in preparation for the coming salvation.
Sarah, too, was called to wait, although set apart and favored by God. She is first introduced in scripture as a barren woman (Genesis 11:30). That becomes her identity. While the enemy spent an exorbitant amount of time convincing her that she was defective, on two occasions we see her value demonstrated by how vigorously God protects her (Genesis 12:17 and Genesis 20:1-3).
It is the enemy’s job to get us to believe things contrary to God’s plan. However, an honest survey of our lives would reveal that despite the holding patterns, God’s hand is on us. If His hand is on us, then His grace extends to counter the discomfort.
Both John the Baptist and Sarah teach us that our existence, testimony, and impact are too important to be forgotten by God, no matter how we started. If you feel forgotten, know that what man may not understand syncs perfectly with heaven’s rhythm.
Day 3
Scriptures: Daniel 10:12-13, Luke 1:6, Romans 8:28
I Can Do Bad All By Myself, But Grace Won’t Let Me
“And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.”-Genesis 17:20-21 (NIV)
Yesterday, we looked at the story of John the Baptist. Although he became the forerunner for Jesus, he did not have an easy start to life and ministry.
Culture is quick to make judgment calls: delays are seen as an indication that something is wrong with the one waiting. Ask a single woman of a certain age why she is single, and she might list all her insecurities and perceived flaws. Ask a young professional why he has not reached a certain height in his career, and he might list all the setbacks he has had to face. However, scripture is clear that delays are not always the result of our shortcomings. Take, for example, Daniel 10:12-13, an example of a delay resulting from spiritual warfare.
There are times when the wait has less to do with us and more to do with God’s timing and the big picture. This was true for John the Baptist. The backdrop of his life is anchored in a very specific fact – both his parents were upright in the sight of God (Luke 1:6). Not often enough are those called to waiting seasons reminded that the delay is not always a consequence of their doing. What if you were upright like Elizabeth, blameless like Job, protected like Sarah, but you still had to wait? In those moments, we must be careful about guarding our minds. Otherwise, we might try to do what Sarah did – circumvent the process.
In Genesis 16:2, unable to see any other answer to infertility, Sarah requests that Abraham have a child with her maidservant. I can only imagine how demoralizing it must have been for her to think that was her best option. Despite her attempt to rush the season, God was gracious. He not only redeemed her mistake by extending a covenant to the new baby Ishmael, but He remained unwavering in His commitment to using her.
The same is true for you and me. No matter the root of the delay, or our contribution to the length of the season, God is actively at work. Sometimes, that means He is fighting battles unseen to us. Other times, it means He is on the backend redeeming how we navigate the process.
Day 4
Scriptures: Genesis 50:20, 1 Peter 5:10
Laughing Through The Pain
“So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?” -Genesis 18:12
“Sarah said, ‘God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.’ And she added, ‘Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.’ -Genesis 21:6-7
Waiting can exhaust every human emotion we have. Maybe you can relate to going from optimism and hope one day to sadness and depression the next and cynicism and doubt the day after that. I have been there, and while it is easy to hide behind positive self-talk, the truth is that waiting does not always feel good. It can hurt, and if we listen to the enemy’s lies, it sometimes feels like punishment. The good news is that God is not subject to our emotions. He can turn our circumstances around so that what feels painful today brings us laughter tomorrow.
Like Elizabeth, John, and Sarah, there is another person whose waiting seemed like punishment, though it was a setup for a grand unveiling of God’s precision.
For generations, Joseph has been the poster man of waiting seasons. He was given a dream by God, but shortly after betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, and then sent to prison. If Joseph were a friend to many of us, we might suggest to him that he was under attack from the enemy and in need of serious prayer, fasting, deliverance, or all three. Genesis 50:20 says otherwise. Not only was his journey not punishment, but it was necessary so that God could get the ultimate glory in his life. Genesis 45 shows us a picture of a man who had been through so much and was overcome with emotion at the realization of God’s big picture.
Similarly, in Genesis 21: 6-7 Sarah is overcome with emotion as she laughs at the manifestation of her promise of becoming a mother. Her laughter in that instance is the opposite of her laughter in Genesis 18:12, where she scoffs at the audacity of it all. She, too, was familiar with the range of emotions that waiting can trigger.
As we wrap up our devotional tomorrow, I encourage you to consider your circumstances. Is it possible that what you are waiting for is a necessary part of a testimony God wants to use you for? Is it also possible God’s grace is moving you toward showing His glory in a way that will redeem even the most hopeless of emotions?
Day 5
Scriptures: Hebrews 11:6, Romans 8:28
Waiting To Exhale
“And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise.” -Hebrews 11:11 (NIV)
On day 1, I mentioned the importance of discerning whether you are in a divine waiting season. Naturally, the first question is, how do you know? From Sarah’s journey, we can surmise that one way to know is if what you are waiting for is revealed by God and requires His intervention. If, despite your best efforts, the manifestation of the promise cannot come to pass without Him, then you are likely in a divine waiting season. Naturally, the second question becomes, how do you make it through?
We can gather from those we have studied that the common thread is faith. Although waiting is lonely and sometimes causes us to question God’s love and awareness, it also forces us to confront our real understanding of faith.
For Sarah, there was a promise that she and Abraham would be the parents of nations. However, there were two problems – both were up in age, and Sarah was considered barren. Although intimate enough with God that Abraham would later be called His friend (James 2:23), they were in a position where, unless God stepped in, the situation was as good as done.
Was Sarah’s faith perfect? No. Like some of us, she laughed at the possibility of it all.
Was it redeemed? Yes, so much so, that she is among the heroes of faith listed in Hebrews 11.
Could it be that your wait is less about you and more about God’s interest in what your faith could unlock for the generations? What if your testimony is a conduit for others to see His redemptive power?
If you, like Sarah, have been called into a waiting season, be encouraged. The easiest thing to do is to lean on logic, but God moves beyond that. His divine nature means that He sees the spectrum of eternity, including the waiting, your response, the result, and the eternal impact. What if your faith, though shaky at times, will make you stand out like Abraham and earn you the title of “friend of God”?
When you cannot trust what your eyes see and what your emotions feel, trust God’s integrity. When we fix our eyes on the integrity of His character, we can trust that we are not forgotten. The result of your waiting will be for your good and His glory.