Waiting for Spring When Your Life Feels Dormant
by Grace Wabuke Klein
God, why are You making me wait so long? Why can’t You just bring my husband? You created the world in six days; surely this is not too difficult for You!
I had cried out to God many times, but this time was different. This time, I was done. I was forty years old and done with being single. I was done with guys who were afraid of commitment and the ones who were intimidated by a woman in leadership. I was done with going on dates, only to look into eyes that glazed over the minute I told them I worked in full-time ministry.
It seemed like I had been in this winter season forever and my prayers continued to go unanswered. I was hurt and confused by how a loving God could see me in such pain and not do something about it.
God, Do Something!
Maybe you can relate. You’ve found yourself in a space where life does not look like you expected. You thought you would be living your best life by now, doing what you always dreamed. Maybe you thought you would be married and have a family by now. You didn’t think it would be so hard to get pregnant, but with each monthly cycle, you face the disappointment of an unanswered prayer. Perhaps you had great plans to be your own boss with a thriving business. You didn’t expect the grind of an entrepreneur to be so hard.
You thought your ride-or-die friends would always have your back. You never expected them to turn on you and not celebrate your success. Maybe you did not expect your health to begin to fail, to have your marriage implode, or your kids lose their way...yet here you are. In the center of an unknown or unexpected season of life waiting for things to change. Wondering: why won’t God just speak, extend His hand, send angels, and do something—anything!—to change your circumstances?
It can be so hard to trust and wait on God. I know the frustration and disappointment that comes from not seeing any sign of change. I want to encourage you that what you are facing is not the end of your story. This is not the final chapter. God has more for you. He is still writing your story. He is faithful to help you in the waiting and to hold you in times when your prayer is not answered as you expected.
The Something God Did
For over twenty years, I cried out to God and waited for Him to answer my prayer. After years of waiting for God and trusting His timing, He suddenly answered my heart’s desire and brought my husband. I finally walked down the aisle for the first time a week before my forty-third birthday. No, that is not a typo. I got married at forty-two. Phil was not only my first boyfriend, he was my first kiss.
While it was not easy to wait on God, I can definitely say it was worth it! People often ask me: how did you keep your faith when the struggle was real? How did you continue to trust God while waiting on His promises? I learned so much during those twenty years about finding God’s purpose in the unknown and unexpected seasons of life.
The Quiet Growing Work of God
One of the key things I want to encourage you with as you wait for spring to come is this: growth is happening in the dark.
Tree roots show us that just because you cannot see the growth doesn’t mean something isn’t happening. For years I asked the Lord why He was having me wait so long. I never got an answer. Why did some people wait only two years to get married and I waited two decades? Can you imagine waiting over 20 years for God to answer a prayer? It was not until after I got married, that the Lord finally answered and simply asked, “Grace, would you rather have a faith that is two years deep or two decades deep?” That’s when I got it. The winter season had cultivated a level of faith and developed spiritual roots that no other season could have done.
Although it was painful, the faith, wisdom, and spiritual maturity I developed over twenty years could not have happened in two years. The winter seasons of life transform and empower you in a way no other season can. As we open ourselves to what God is doing, the focus becomes more about being with Jesus. Our desire shifts to getting to know Him more and becoming more like Him.
As you wait for spring to come, I encourage you to embrace the growth and transformation that is happening in the dark.
GRACE wabuke klein
Grace writes about many more things she learned while waiting for Spring in her new book FLOURISH: Finding Purpose in the Unknown and Unexpected Seasons of Life. Grace is an author and speaker. She and her husband of five years live in Birmingham, Alabama and work with churches across the country. Connect with Grace at @gracewabukeklein or www.gracewabukeklein.com.
