Waiting for Something You Know God Wants to Give You

During the last 7 years, my wife and I have been believing for a certain miracle of restoration. A little while ago, we were talking about a related topic that our pastor recently covered.
When God is letting you seek Him, it’s not that He doesn’t want to be found. It’s that He just enjoys the process of you seeking Him. Pastor Chris gave the example of playing hide and seek with his grandkids. He loves to be around them, of course, but it’s fun to let them seek him out for a little while.
Don’t Misinterpret the Delay
This morning, I was extending that principle to God letting us seek Him for certain things in our lives—maybe even things we believe He wants to give to us. For example, we have a Facebook group for people who are wanting to learn and grow in the spiritual gifts of tongues and interpretation of tongues. Some of the people in that group have been seeking, especially for the gift of interpretation. But they’re still waiting.
The waiting does not in any way imply that God does not want to give them this gift. In fact, before He gives us certain things—especially something major like a spiritual gift, or ministry, or miracle—He often gives us a strong desire for those things. Then He gives us a chance to seek Him for the gift, ministry, or miracle.
God Is Close While We Wait
We may feel closer to God when we’re celebrating some kind of victory. When we’re on the spiritual mountaintop, it’s natural to feel closer to God as we express our deep appreciation for what He has done. But the Bible says that God is “close to the brokenhearted” (Psalm 34:18). He’s close whether we feel it or not.
I was telling my wife earlier that for God, the waiting process is probably a lot like how she enjoys feeling needed when the kids are sick. She doesn’t ever want them to feel sick. But when they are sick, she loves how they come to her, humble, gentle, and recognizing their need for her. She loves how they crawl up in her lap and just stay there for hours when they’re feeling under the weather.
This Is God’s Chance to Enjoy Holding You
The 7 years of waiting have been very tough for us at times. We have gone through all kinds of spiritual and emotional ups and downs. But through it all, God has been close. And when the miracle finally comes, it will most likely be permanent—at least for the rest of this life.
So this has been God’s one chance to enjoy the weight and depth of us crying out to Him from the pit of our souls. We believe we have a promise from Him, so it’s not that He doesn’t want to give us the miracle. He just wants to enjoy the seeking process for a while. And He has every right to do that.
Let’s allow God to enjoy His time with us while we wait.
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