This was a blog post I wrote in April of 2019, right before a major breakthrough that led me to discover my dream of coaching. This was originally posted on a blog I shared with two amazing friends.
Waiting can be hard. When we have prayed and prayed about something but we just don’t see the results yet, our minds can wander dangerously. But you know, lots of people in the Bible had to wait. God made promises to them but even the most faithful of His servants would have to wait to see His promises come to fruition. So what do we do while we wait?
The Lord reminded me of Habakkuk this morning while I prayed about this.
I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guardpost. There I will wait to see what the Lord says and how he will answer my complaint. Habakkuk 2:1 (NLT)
I felt that gentle nudge from the Holy Spirit say to me, “Climb up to the watchtower and wait. See all the things I am doing for you.” But then He reminded me that I had to do something else while I waited…write. I love the message version of Habakkuk’s next couple of verses.
And then God answered: “Write this. Write what you see. Write it out in big block letters so that it can be read on the run. This vision-message is a witness pointing to what’s coming. It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait! And it doesn’t lie. If it seems slow in coming, wait. It’s on its way. It will come right on time. Habakkuk 2:2-3 (MSG)
Even in the waiting, God wants us to write about His faithfulness. Oh, how sad it would be to miss all of his goodness in the present because I’m too focused on the future! And similarly, it’s heartbreaking that life passes by without any record of all the ways God has been faithful in our difficult times… or in our waiting.
My favorite thing about writing (journaling, blogging, etc.) is that I get to go back and read my words and see just how awesome God is. It’s easy to forget just how faithful He is if I don’t write it down. It’s so much easier for me to remember how deeply something hurt—those twinges of pain and suffering can flood my mind and heart in an instant. And it would be easy to forget that there were so many blessings through those hard times if I didn’t record them.
“Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord…” Psalm 102:18
My husband laughs at me for this, but whenever we have a tornado warning and have to take shelter, I pack 20 years of journals into a bag and take it with me to the basement. Why would I care so much about these little books? That’s where I’ve recorded God’s faithfulness through all the good times, and through all the hard times.
I can go back and read those words and recall just how clearly God was in the details. He was there in my depression. He was sending me the perfect people who would pull me up out of the ashes of defeat. He was there for each pregnancy, every death of a loved one, every illness, every scary moment of motherhood, every challenge, every victory, every tear, every worry, every delight, and every time I was waiting on Him to come through on a promise. I can see Him through my writing. And one day, I want my children and even my grandchildren to read those words and know that God was always with them too. He was always molding and shaping the generations to come.
So now, as I find myself waiting again, I will climb up to my watchtower where I can see a little better. And I’ll turn around and look back at where I’ve been. He’s always been with me and He will never leave me. He is faithful! I know this because I can read about it in my own words—and the words of all the faithful people in the Bible. He is the same now as He was for them. And He’s always been with you too! Just because you don’t remember Him there doesn’t mean He was absent.
So friends, I challenge you to climb up to your watchtower and write. Whether you are in a waiting season or living in the promise, write what you see. It’s a “witness to what is coming.” We know life brings seasons of joy, seasons of sorrow, seasons of waiting, and seasons of fulfillment. You never know when you’ll need your own words to be a witness one day in your sorrow or waiting. And then after you are able to see what He’s done, your faith will sustain you. If the promise seems slow in coming, wait patiently. You will see that God’s timing is perfect. It will come right on time.
Almighty Father in Heaven, you know everything and you are always with me. I trust your plans for my life. Forgive me when I forget that you are in control or when I try to take over. Thank you for meeting me in the watchtower. You are always faithful to fulfill your promises—even if I must wait patiently to see the outcome. May the generations to come know how you held me and carried me when I couldn’t do this life on my own. May they clearly see the joy and fulfillment you brought our family throughout the ages. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
~Jamie
This post was originally published on Truth & Transformation: https://truthandtransformation.wordpress.com/2019/04/30/waiting-and-writing-from-the-watchtower/
