Waiting in Hope
Waiting was never my forte. Even when I was forced to wait, I was in a hurry. My first marriage didn’t occur until I was 39, but since I was 23, I was in a hurry to get married. I was always looking and had numerous short-term relationships. I broke a few hearts along the way, and my heart was broken once. When I finally did marry, I rushed into it and rationalized my choice. It was the biggest mistake of my life.
I look back on the younger period of my life and regret my hurriedness. It really came down to my lack of trust in the Lord. In recent years, I have become more patient out of necessity rather than desire, but it has been good for me. I have always wanted to be a writer and wrote daily devotions for many years. I attempted to get those published with no success. Years later, I decided to write a book. That was 2017. After being unable to secure a publisher or an agent, I decided to publish it myself. That happened four years later. It had modest success, but I am no marketing genius, so sales lagged after the initial push. Three years later (2024), I was offered a contract for the book by a publishing house. They said their intention was to publish it that year. A change in management led to a significant delay. Finally, the book was ready earlier this year to be published. It wasn’t, because I still had to secure the copyright for which I had to apply after the manuscript was completed. Six months later, this week in fact, the copyright certificate came in the mail. More than two years has passed since signing the book contract.
As this process was playing out, my health took a turn. I struggled with energy and feeling well enough to write. It occurred to me recently that having to wait was a blessing because I wasn’t in the physical condition to allow promoting my book and doing speaking engagements. I am on the other side of the worst of my physical struggles, so the wait makes more sense to me now. But it was not easy. Waiting never is.
Our culture is an impatient one. Many poor choices are made because we struggle with waiting. As I did, people desiring to be married often marry a person not best suited for them, ending up unhappy and often divorced. People buy things (cars, houses, etc.) they can’t truly afford but are unwilling to wait until they can. Soon, they can find themselves in financial jeopardy.
Learning to wait is a spiritual discipline. And like all disciplines, there are errors and failings along the way. Yet, with God there is always hope. Even if we find ourselves experiencing the consequences of our impatience, we can still trust God to use it for good in our lives (Romans 8:28) This is what the Lord has done and is doing in my life. My first marriage was chaotic and nothing of what I first imagined it to be. Yet, I grew more dependent on the Lord as a result and was committed to salvaging my marriage. When it failed, the Lord even showed much grace to me and did not make me wait long to meet my second wife over 20 years ago. But I still had a long way to go in learning to wait on the Lord, which became evident in the midst of my present journey. Let me say again, waiting is hard because trusting the Lord in day-to-day life is difficult. Our fallen nature works against us. Our culture seeks us to adopt its impatient ways. And our Enemy seeks to exploit these weaknesses. Yet, waiting will thwart his schemes.
Waiting in hope lessens anxiety and the fear of missing out or messing up, because it increases our practice of trusting God. David, a man who obviously struggled with waiting (see 2 Samuel 11), still spoke of his desire to trust in the Lord:
I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:13-14 NIV)
Regardless of our current or futures circumstances, as followers of the Lord, may this be our intention and hope as well.
Until next time . . .
© Jim Musser 2026
