James 5:11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

In my last newsletter I discussed this fact of life: Change always comes. I talked about the inevitable changes and seasons we experience in life using the context of Ecclesiastes chapter 3. Those verses demonstrate the biblical truths that we can always expect change to come and that God is sovereign over it all. He knows where we’ve been, where we are, and what will happen in our lives next.

Today’s topic will be focusing on how to find contentment in the waiting phases of life: when we see change coming, we’re trying to prepare, but the end result of the change hasn’t happened yet. My goal is to demonstrate how seeking help from God’s Word is the only way to experience contentment during any life season, especially as we wait for change to come.

From the moment we’re born, we really don’t like waiting for anything. Babies cry when they have to wait to eat or be changed. Children whine when waiting for their turn to play with a toy or to get what they want. Teenagers are often dismayed as they wait for adulthood and independence. Young adults hate waiting to be seen as real adults, to have a career, to start a family, to be accomplished. Even those who are middle-aged and the elderly don’t like waiting for children to mature, for retirement, for diagnoses and treatments, for rest.

So why don’t we like waiting? Part of our sinful human nature is our desire to be in control and to know what God knows (starting way back in Genesis 3). We long to know what happens next! Waiting stops us in our tracks because most of the time we’re not waiting because we want to be. We often have to wait because we’re not in control.

Yet throughout history, God has purposed seasons of life within humanity that require us to wait. Think of Abraham waiting for his promised heir; Jacob waiting and working years to marry Rachel; Joseph waiting in an Egyptian prison; Israel waiting and wandering 40 years in the wilderness to enter the Promised Land; Hannah and Elizabeth waiting and yearning to get pregnant; the exiles from Israel waiting for their kingdom to be restored and for the coming Messiah. In each of these circumstances, because of the gift of God’s Word, today we are able to see and understand some of the purposes God had for those people in their times of waiting. But even seeing their example of waiting and God’s plans unfolding doesn’t always make it easier for us to trust in the waiting of our specific circumstances. Maybe today you’re struggling with waiting—waiting for a job opportunity, for the doctor’s office to call, for marriage or starting a family, or for a loved one to return home. Or maybe it’s something smaller, like waiting for other people in traffic, waiting at the doctor’s office, or waiting in line at the grocery store.

The opening verse I shared today, James 5:11, was written by James to encourage believers to be faithful and to trust in God during their waiting. For them, they were experiencing suffering and persecution while waiting and yearning for the Lord to return. James uses the example of Job’s “steadfastness” in the trials he faced, and then James references how God’s purpose in Job’s waiting was to show how He is a compassionate and merciful Savior. James can confidently say those who remain steadfast, who wait upon the Lord, are blessed because he believed God was who He said He was. God calls us to wait on Him because He has proven Himself trustworthy. The call to “Wait for the Lord!” rings clear throughout the pages of Scripture:

Isaiah 40:31 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.

Psalm 27:13-14 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Psalm 130:5I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.

So how does waiting on the Lord help us find hope as we wait for seasons of our life to change? In the waiting God instructs His people to pursue contentment, which ultimately helps our waiting become hopeful. While studying what passages in the Bible talk about waiting on the Lord and about contentment, I found Cambridge’s online dictionary definition of “contentment” very helpful: “happiness and satisfaction, often because you have everything you need.” I like this explanation because every time God calls us to wait on Him in the changing seasons of life, He is providing us an opportunity to find happiness and satisfaction in Him alone, because He truly is all we need. Take a look at two passages from Scripture that emphasize this:

1 Timothy 6:6–8But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

Philippians 4:11–13…for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Choosing to remember that God has given us everything we could ever need in the Gospel (Romans 8:32) will start to transform our hearts and minds, just like it did Paul’s and James’. When we reflect on the biggest reason we have to be content, it is easier to find joy even in the waiting. To be content is choosing to trust that the Lord is good and has good planned for those who love Him:

Isaiah 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

Psalm 37:3-7 Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!

Trusting God means letting go of the desire for control. It is a humbling practice to seek to be content while waiting. Even this week for me I was reminded that I’m not in control but I can trust the timing of the One who is.

We are in the process of foster parent licensing and had our first home visit scheduled for this week. Since we’ve been working on the application process for almost two months, I was ready to get this first visit done. On the day of, we got our house cleaned up and tidied, only to wait… and wait some more… and finally found out the case worker had put the wrong date in her calendar. So we had to push back our visit two more weeks due to further scheduling conflicts. While this isn’t a big set back in the process to get licensed, I was pretty disappointed. I really don’t like waiting, especially when I’m wanting to know what the next steps are. However, that’s not what God had planned. He planned for me to have to trust in His timing and His plan, not my own.

The verses from Psalm 37 kept ringing through my mind as I sought to give this process and my plans over to God: “Trust in the Lord… Delight yourself in the Lord… Commit your way to the Lord… Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him…” To be content, we must trust God. We must keep our minds on Him so that we can experience His peace. Whatever you’re waiting on right now, I hope you can keep these two truths about God in mind: God is good, and He is in control. He has a purpose for our waiting, even if it is just for us to turn to Him in trust and obedience. To not get angry, irritated, or discouraged. We can choose to keep our minds on the Lord rather than responding as the world does to waiting.

I challenge you to look for ways to think on who God is this week while you wait! Pray that He would help you see Him in the opportunities you have. You can believe me when I say He will use those efforts to help you experience the hope and peace that comes from biblical contentment. He is a faithful God!

Thank you as always for reading or listening to Speaking Truth. I look forward to sharing with you more on the theme of Changing Seasons in the next couple of weeks. Until then, I pray God uses His Word to grow you more and more.

Thanks for reading Speaking Truth! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and episodes.

Get full access to Speaking Truth at speakingtruth.substack.com/subscribe