Recently, I went to see my doctor for a yearly checkup. Typically, I get right in to see him with very little waiting. But for some reason, on this day, he was running behind. So, I waited. And waited.

I don’t wait well. I quickly found myself growing impatient – fidgeting, glancing at my watch, sighing heavily, wondering, “Why do they even make appointments when they can’t seem to keep them?” I also starting to feel sorry for myself, like – “Maybe they have forgotten me?” 

Well, my name was eventually called, and I was led down the hallway to the examination room, also known as ‘the second waiting room,’ where, you guessed it, I waited some more! (Of course, by the time they took my vitals, my blood pressure was high, and my heart rate was out of control!)

We don’t wait well, do we? We’re in a hurry. And spiritually, it can be challenging because God is not in a hurry. And if we’re honest, sometimes He seems awfully slow to act and respond. 

Maybe you find yourself in a season of waiting, desperately and endlessly praying, crying out to God for something to happen – for healing, for a job, for direction and a path forward, for restoration of a relationship, for God to make good on a promise. Only to be met by silence.

If that’s where you are, you need to know that you’re in good company. The lives of many of the most significant men and women in Scripture are defined by seasons of waiting.

I have been re-reading the story of Abraham over the past few weeks. You may remember that, in Genesis 12, God called Abraham to leave his own country and go to a new land where God would make Abraham’s offspring into a great nation. The problem was that he and his wife, Sarah, had no children, and they were old and past child-bearing age. It seemed impossible!  

Did you know that, by the time God finally made good on His promise – with the birth of Isaac in Genesis 21 – 25 years had passed?! 25 years for God’s promise to be fulfilled!

Why such a long time? Doubtless, there are multiple reasons why God’s perfect timing was 25 years later, but one of those surely involved what God was doing IN Abraham and Sarah while they waited. God was at work, drawing them to Himself, refining their hearts, re-molding their desires, growing their trust and shaping them into people who would be ready to step into this great calling when the time came.   

God was also at work in the hearts and lives of the people and nations and leaders surrounding Abraham – preparing the land in a way only God can.

Of course, Abraham and Sarah could see none of this in the seeming silence of Yahweh. But God had not forgotten them.

He has not forgotten you, either. You can know that, in the silence and in the waiting, God is drawing you to Himself. He’s working in you to re-shape your heart and desires, to grow your trust in Him. He’s also at work in others and in circumstances, preparing the way.

Because even in God’s waiting room, He has not forgotten you. He sees you, He loves you, and His timing is perfect.