Waiting on God, when nothing is happening

You prayed, you meant it, and nothing has moved for a year.

Before any of it

You were not left to manage this on your own

Everything here rests on one thing, and it is not your strength. Before Christ went to the cross He promised He would not leave us as orphans, and He sent the Comforter to help us during these difficult times. Not afterwards. During.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:26–27

He is not a reward for coping well. He is not sent once you are strong enough to deserve Him. If you belong to Christ, the everyday Helper is already with you and already in you, and the first move in any hard season is to turn to Him before you turn to a plan.

Waiting and delay

You prayed. You meant it. And then nothing. No door opened, no answer came, and the thing you asked about is exactly where it was a year ago. This is the season almost nobody talks about, because there is nothing to report.

What is true

Waiting is not God being slow, and it is not God saying no. In Scripture it is nearly always the last thing before the thing.

The disciples had watched Him die and rise. They had the commission in their hands. And His instruction was wait, until the Spirit came. The waiting was not a delay in the plan. It was how they were made ready for it.

“Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.’” Isaiah 46:10

God is not working out what to do about your situation. He declared the end of it before it began. Something is being formed in you during the wait that could not be formed any other way.

While you wait

Start with the Helper. Ask the Holy Spirit each morning to carry you through this day, not through the whole season, just today. He will remind you of what God has said when you cannot recall a word of it.
Keep the small things going. Reading, praying, turning up. They feel pointless in a waiting season. They are what carries you through it.
Write down what He has already done. Waiting shortens your memory. A written record of answered prayer is evidence you can hold when you cannot feel anything.
Wait on Him, not only for the thing. There is a difference, and it changes the whole season.

Drawn from End from the Beginning and Endued With Power, taught at Garston Community Church.

If it is something else today

When you are worn out Not a crisis. Just empty, with nothing left in the tank. When you are not sure you believe it You have thought something you would not say out loud in church. When you are the only one The only one in your family, your class, or on your shift.

And when you speak to someone

Who to tell

These pages keep saying tell someone. That does not mean tell anyone. It matters who you take it to, and Scripture qualifies who those people are: of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom (Acts 6:3).

Look for a brother or sister in Christ who has history with God, a good testimony among the people, and the discretion to keep a confidence. Not a group chat, and not social media.

And if you have nobody and no church at all, you are not outside God’s provision. Christ Himself gave the church, and it is the same Spirit who comforts you who appointed those who shepherd it. Ask Him to lead you to His people, and keep asking.

Who to tell, in full — and what to do if you have no church →