How Waiting on God Just Might Open the Doors of Abundance

I walk past them every week on my way into the grocery store. Perfectly positioned on bales of hay, like the image of everything that’s right and good about autumn, it takes everything I have not to splurge on a burgundy mum for the front stoop.  I’m not thinking about waiting on God when I see them, but God will soon use the moms to teach me a valuable lesson.

Walking past the autumn décor at the grocery store week after week, I resist the temptation to splurge on what isn’t essential on our tight budget, and I try to ignore the rainbow of mums as they whisper my name from the hay bales.

In some ways, it feels like I’m waiting for more than just a mum.

I’m waiting on God to show up and provide in abundance.

I’m waiting for these warm autumn days to usher in frost and twinkling lights on the fir trees and promises in so many areas of life, promises that have felt so long in coming.

Even so, walking past the mums each week is a reminder that I trust God, even while I wait.

Are you waiting on God?

Most of us are waiting for something.

We’re waiting for loved ones to return, healing to come, nurseries to be filled with life, husbands to appear on the stages of our lives, promotions to come through, or we’re plain old waiting for God to arrive on the scene and usher us into something that feels like the abundant life Jesus promised.

My trouble is that I’ve made the assumption that God’s idea of abundance is the same as mine.

I tend to see abundance as good health, a flourishing ministry, a thriving career, a full freezer, and a number on the checking account statements that makes me feel comfortable.

God speaks differently of abundance.

He tells us that if we want to find our lives, we’ll need to lose them first.  He tells us that the first will be last, the greatest will be servants, and following Jesus means denying ourselves and carrying our crosses.

These words are familiar to us, so familiar that some of us gloss over them.

Let’s pause to consider what they actually mean in the nitty-gritty places of our everyday lives: putting our husbands’ desires ahead of our own when we don’t feel like it, serving our children through the long hours of the night, forgiving that one friend who never says sorry or thanks, loving the family member who has never once been even a little bit like Jesus in return for all of the kindness.

When Waiting on God Opens the Doors for Blessing

It’s a clear Monday morning when my dear friend offers a gesture that speaks my language of love.

She hands me a white gift certificate for a free flower from the local greenhouse.

It’s a card good for one free mum, and I smile and tell her about walking past the mums at the grocery store and how I’d been holding back.

She smiles and says, “I figured you’d been doing that,” and I’m thankful for the kind of friend who just knows.

When Caleb and I arrive at the greenhouse to pick up our mum, I’m astounded by what I see. Tables filled with enormous lush mums of every color dazzle our eyes.

Caleb picks a burgundy beauty, and we waste no time getting it home and positioning it in front of the door. It’s a gift that was so simple and yet so perfectly in tune with a quiet little desire I had never once verbalized.

We’re admiring it from the lawn when the thought dawns on me: Sometimes our willingness to wait on God is the very act that opens the doors of abundance in our lives. #waitingonGod #encounteringGod Click To Tweet

Sometimes what feels like gritting our teeth and rolling our eyes while God “holds out on us” is really just an opportunity to wait for God to show up in ways exceedingly more abundant than we ever could have imagined.

Encouragement for Your Waiting Seasons

Had I settled for a grocery store mum, our front landscaping would hold a spindly purple plant, half the size of the beautiful mum God provided.

In waiting and trusting and sticking to our prayed-through budget, God showed up and provided an enormous, lush, luxuriant blessing, and he allowed my friend to be a part of the sweet blessing of it all.

I don’t know what you’re waiting for today, but I do know that waiting isn’t easy.

I typically struggle to wait well.

It’s not easy to stick to the plan when the bottom falls out and all you really want to do is take matters into your own hands all over again.

It’s not easy to trust that God will show up while you wait for your circumstances, relationships, and finances to improve. May today be a day of encouragement.  Don’t give up just yet.  There is a promise for healing somewhere along this road.

There is a promise for restoration, and sooner or later, redemption will come.  Don’t lose heart.  This season of waiting might be the key that unlocks the door to the kind of abundance you’ve been craving.

A Gift to Help You While You Are Waiting on God:

Are you ready for a fresh breath of hope to help you through a difficult season? Rays of Light for the Dark Days is my free 20-day online devotional for hope and healing. This devotional offers powerful inspiration to help you through life’s trials. It is yours by clicking here.

 

Two Life-Changing Books to Help You Connect With God Like Never Before:

God wants to work in your life to accomplish what you’ve been unable to do through willpower alone.  Lean Into Grace: Let God’s Grace Heal Your Heart, Refresh Your Soul, and Set You Free shares practical ways to experience God’s freedom, healing, power, and presence in your life.  Find this life-changing book for free on the Kindle Unlimited plan or for sale in print right here.  This book will transform your life and revitalize your relationship with the Lord!

Attention, all moms and daughters!

Lastly, in addition to writing to adults, I am also passionate about ministering to the next generation.

My 12-year-old daughter Bekah and I wrote a mother-daughter devotional book together.  We hope to help moms and daughters connect and grow in faith together.  Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith includes 60 devotions with Scripture, commentaries from both of us, conversation starters, and even a shared journaling section.

Our vision is for girls ages 7-17 to enjoy it with their moms, grandmas, or older women they look up to.  However, mothers and daughters of all ages are using this book to grow closer together!  This book makes a wonderful gift for a mother or daughter you care about!

You can buy your paperback or eBook on Amazon right here.