Mark 8:36
Here are 4 signs that mean God is saying, “Keep waiting because the wait will be worth it!”
1. If Taking Action Would Get You What You Want But It Would Also Take You Out of God’s Will, This Is a Sign God Is Saying, “Keep Waiting. It Will Be Worth It!”
Perhaps the most powerful temptations are those which we know we could accomplish if we wanted to.
For example, perhaps you know there is someone in your life who has offered to commit sexual sin with you. All you need to do is give them a call and you know you could get whatever you wanted. Or perhaps you are in charge of the finances at your work and they have grown to trust you so much you know you could easily take money for yourself without anyone every finding out. Or maybe you really want to be a part of a certain social group and you know you have the social skills to do it, but you also know you would have to compromise on your godly character to impress these people.
Many times in life, you will have the ability to actually get exactly what you want. But, in so doing, you also know you will be turning your back on God and walking out of his will for you. It’s in these moments where God is telling you to wait. Why? Because oftentimes the desires you have will be met by God in the future in a godly way if you just keep waiting.
If you resist sexual sin now, God may use this waiting to increase your sexual pleasure in marriage one day. If you don’t steal from the company, God may use this waiting to actually produce the circumstances for you to own that company one day in a moral way. If you choose to resist becoming friends with the world, God may use the waiting to build your roots even deeper in your local church.
The point is, the wait will always be worth it if the waiting is needed for you to remain in God’s will. As Jesus taught us in Mark 8:36, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”
2. If the Waiting Is Developing You in Ways that Are Needed Before You Can Rightly Handle the Blessing You Seek, This Is a Sign God Is Saying the Wait Will Be Worth It
Proverbs 20:21 (NIV) states, “An inheritance claimed too soon will not be blessed at the end.”
Think of the prodigal son in Luke 15. He was given his inheritance early, but when he received this gift his life actually got much worse. An inheritance is supposed to be a blessing. But when we lack the maturity to rightly handle the blessing, a blessing given too soon can actually turn into a curse.
One big mistake Christians often make before they have what they want is that they waste their season of waiting. God always has a purpose for every season we are in. One day your season of waiting will be over. But if you did not properly use that season in the way God wanted, it will come back to haunt you. Through the waiting, God is often developing our character so that we can actually handle the gift we are waiting for.
Proverbs 19:2 states, “Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.” If waiting longer will actually increase your knowledge and ability to rightly handle the blessing that you want, this is a good sign God is saying, “Keep waiting. It will be worth it.”
3. If Waiting Is Needed So Your Blessing Can Ripen, This Is a Good Sign God Is Saying the Wait Will Be Worth It
Patience is often the key to increasing one’s future pleasure. Like a piece of fruit that is still too hard to be considered ripe, so too are there blessings in life that need time to develop. Yes, you can bite into a piece of fruit that is not yet fully ripe. It will be edible. It will still bring you some nutrients. But how much better would it have been if you had given it the time to fully ripen?
The same is true with many types of blessings in life. It’s not always going to totally ruin a blessing if you jump the gun and act too soon. But by waiting, you are oftentimes going to increase your pleasure because you are giving the necessary time for the blessing to ripen. While James 5:7-8 is speaking about greater things than earthly blessings, notice the principle of patience increasing our pleasure. It states:
Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”
4. If the Waiting Is “Preparing an Eternal Weight of Glory Beyond All Comparison,” This Is a Sign God Is Saying the Wait Will Certainly Be Worth It
I know it can be depressing to think about death, but I believe we would be far happier in life if we took time to number our days on earth. As Psalm 90:12 states, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”
We certainly don’t want to minimize the trials or the blessings on earth. This life truly is important! But we must also remember this life is just a small part of the larger story we are a part of. Don’t live your life without an eye also fixed on eternity.
As the missionary and martyr Jim Elliot wrote, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Sometimes we need to wait now so we can be fully satisfied forever. As 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 states:
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
