Dr. Helen Titilola OLOJEDE

 

Waiting can be excruciating, especially if you have been waiting for quite some time. Waiting tries our patience, tolerance and endurance level. Some of us, if we have our way, we will not want to wait at all. This is probably because we are impatient and we live in a fast-paced world. However, waiting and patience are part of our Christian calling. We have proof of this in different mothers and fathers of faith in the scriptures and also in the lives of the saints.

 

Before we examine personalities that waited on God, it is important to note that waiting on God is not simply a passive pause, but an active posture of trust, hope, and patient perseverance that aligns our hearts with divine timing. It means placing our desire for God’s promises above our own urgency, remaining steadfast in prayer, and allowing the Holy Spirit to shape us while we await His faithful fulfilment. Scripture and the lives of the saints illuminate this virtue, showing that true waiting is rooted in hope and love for God, even when circumstances seem long or difficult.

 

So, what can we learn from those before us who once waited? Habakkuk, for instance, questioned God’s silence but was urged to “wait for Him, for He will surely come”. Can we take a leap of faith from this? Maybe we have questioned or continue to question. What about Hannah, the Mother of Samuel? Hannah’s deep anguish for a child led her to pray silently before the Lord, “pouring out her soul” while the priest Eli thought she was drunk (1 Sam 1:12‑17). She vowed that if God granted her a son she would dedicate him to the Lord as a Nazirite. God heard her prayer, and “in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son” whom she named Samuel (1 Sam 1:20‑21)1.

In the life of Hannah, we learn that true waiting involves heartfelt petition, faithful perseverance, and a willingness to offer the answer to God’s service.

 

How can we wait purposefully for God?

Gratitude – count your blessings. Be grateful for little, negligible things. Things that we take for granted, such as being able to swallow, blink, fart, pee, poop, breathe etc. Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 

 

Worship and Trust in God – when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. It is much easier to trust God when the going is good. Can we say the same when we do not hear God, feel God or sense Him moving in our lives?

 

Are all waits delays? Hopefully, next week, we shall unpack this question and many more. Shalom!