by Tom Flaherty
Do you feel like you’re in a time of waiting? Like you’re stuck in a “holding pattern” or like God is moving as slow as molasses in January? That’s a tough place to be in and here is what Peter wrote to early believers who were facing very difficult situations and who were waiting on God to come through:
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time, casting all your anxiety upon Him because He cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith…And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” 1 Peter 5:6-10
The language of the New Testament has two different words for time. One of them, “chronos,” corresponds to our word for time in definition, but the second, “kairos”, has no one English word to define it. “Kairos” is translated in a number of ways: “the right time”; “the proper time”; “an opportune time”; or as it is in the text above, “in due time.” All of these have the same basic meaning: “in God’s time.”
God has His own time for things. He does plan to lift us up, answer us, promote us, provide for us, and heal us in His time, but there is a time of testing that often comes before which requires us to wait on God. The text above gives us three important keys on how to wait.
1. Wait on God with humility. “Under God’s mighty hand” references God’s power. His face is who He is; His hand refers to His ability to act. God is able to do what you need Him to do. To wait humbly we must cast our anxiety about our situation on Him and leave it there. Pride struggles with worry because it refuses to give up control even though it doesn’t have the power to change anything. Let go, and let God.
2. Wait on God with confidence. God cares for us. He loves us even when in our minds we question why He doesn’t remove the present suffering to prove it to us. It’s at this point of waiting that the enemy roars in our ears accusations against God to undermine our faith. Remember: the loudest voice in your head is often not the truest one. The enemy roars; God usually whispers. Resist the enemy, firm in your faith, and he will be silenced! (See James 4:7)
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3. Wait on God with perseverance. When we are suffering there is a great temptation to give up on God and take matters into our own hands. If we only persevere, God Himself will use the waiting period before the kairos to make us “strong, firm, and steadfast.” “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time (kairos) we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).
Tom Flaherty is the Lead Pastor of CityChurch in Madison, WI.
