Many, if not all of us, are waiting right now for something. Whether it’s a new job, a first job, a person, there’s an opportunity on which we’ve set our sights. But, I’ll admit it’s easy to begin to believe all too soon that God is no longer for us in our pursuit. After the first couple weeks of dogged application filling, we get weary and tired. God, are you there? I thought You’d led me to make this decision, to follow this path. Now, You’ve forsaken me. I’m dying here, stagnating and where are You? Nowhere. The silence only reaffirms our heart’s growing panic. But, He’s forgotten nothing. No, He’s busy saving you from each of those opportunities. And you can help.

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. — Ephesians 5:15–16

Days can’t be evil
No, days are not being referred to as demons running around your calendar. But, the passage notes how easy it is to waste days of our lives. It takes effort. It takes patience, trust. It takes work. There’s plenty to be done in the waiting. Most of the time, what I’ve found is it just takes allowing God a little latitude to do a little house cleaning in our hearts. Most of the time, we are not at a place where we could appreciate or take advantage of a new opportunity were it served to us on a silver platter. And we, we can be walking faithfully into that darkness with Him.

You’re being saved
As I mentioned, most likely God is saving you from some unfortunate outcome. Either the opportunity is not for you or you are not meant for that scenario on some level. There is a snare hidden in the great luscious plains of the opportunity and you’ve been spared falling its victim. There is a cliff around a blind corner down the road that He stopped you from traveling any further. But because we don’t have that foreknowledge, all we see is God halting our progress. All we see is God holding us back. And we lash out like the children we are.

There is a plan
I’ve spent much of my life wasted on waiting for many things, women in particular. In each, despite my ignorance, God took me somewhere in the waiting. He brought me a bit closer to Him in spite of my insistence on staying in the desert of my childishness. But there have been those times that I’ve waited praying and getting to know better my Father and I’ve been greatly tested in these times. For a few months, I was stretched beyond what I thought myself possible, but I prayed. There are few times in my life that have been more rewarding. There are few times when I’ve felt more in tune with God. Yes, there were the impatient cries out in the night and the discomfort of confronting demons with whom I’d become well acquainted over some years, but I would not trade that time for anything. And that time without doubt is integral to who and where I am now.

Friend, for what or whom do you wait? Do you wait alone in painful silence or are you waiting with the Father? Do you feel Him for you or against you in this time? I don’t know how to convince you, but I assure you He is for you. Oh, how He is for you. In the waiting, will you go out on a limb and trust in that? Will you work with Him and experience the pain that leads to renewal of the soul you so desperately need? Don’t worry, the pain is fleeting, but His joy lasts. We have so few days on this planet. Let’s make the most of them. Every last one.