When God Ordains the Wait

There are seasons in life that no amount of prayer, fasting, or pleading can hasten or bypass. They are not punishment, nor are they evidence of God’s absence. Rather, they are divine appointments, sacred seasons permitted by God for a purpose far deeper than our immediate comfort. These are the seasons when the heavens feel silent, the heart feels heavy, and our prayers seem to echo back unheard.

"To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven."

Yes, even the silence. Even the wilderness. Even the tears.

Consider the Apostle Paul, who speaks vulnerably in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 about a “thorn in the flesh” a burden he pleaded with God to remove:

"Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'” 

God didn’t remove the thorn. He offered grace instead. And sometimes, that is what divine love looks like, not relief, but presence. Not escape, but endurance.

These seasons are often marked by what I call ‘a pregnant silence’ where God seems still, but is deeply at work. We are not the first to feel this. Think of Joseph, unjustly imprisoned for years, seemingly forgotten by man. Or Hannah, who wept bitterly before the Lord for a child, while her womb remained barren (1 Samuel 1). Or even Jesus in Gethsemane, sweating drops of blood, asking that the cup of suffering pass but surrendering:

“Yet not my will, but Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)

Waiting is not passive it is active trust. It is where faith matures. As Isaiah reminds us:

“But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles.” (Isaiah 40:31)

If you find yourself in such a season, blurred vision, weary spirit, unanswered prayers, know this: God has not forsaken you. You cannot pray yourself out of a season God intends to use. But you can pray within it. Ask not merely for deliverance, but for revelation. Say, “Lord, what would You have me see in this season? What are You forming in me?”

Pray for endurance. For clarity. For strength. For the tools you need in the waiting. David, a man after God’s heart, also endured many seasons of silence and distress. Yet in Psalm 27:14, he urges,

“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”

And indeed, every God-ordained season comes with a God-ordained end. He who begins a good work is faithful to complete it (Philippians 1:6). He never wastes pain, silence, or waiting. And when the season shifts, because it will, you will see clearly what was once blurry. You will understand what once confused you. You will reap a harvest if you do not give up (Galatians 6:9).

So hold fast. Let hope anchor you. Let faith lead you. And let the silence teach you to listen. For God is working, even when He whispers. And His timing is never late.