Growing up in the Christian faith, I wouldn’t say I’m unfamiliar with the promises of God. We sing about them, hear them being preached, and even pray about them countless times.

To me, the promises of God felt like an ideal destination. Like, once I’m in that promise, I would have reached my highest point. But in recent times, I find myself asking these questions a lot:

• Does God really have a promise for me?
• What exactly is this supposed promise I have to hold on to?
• Will I ever live in the great plan God has for me?

When the prayers you’ve been earnestly and desperately making for a long time get just a “wait” or worse, complete silence, it’s really hard to hold on to a promise.

But just as I was getting caught up with these frustrations and ranting about it all to God, He reminded me of this verse: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Context is key, so as I began to read the verses and chapters before, I realised that there was so much more to this verse than I first thought.

The Israelites weren’t exactly in the most favourable position when they received this promise from God. It came as a message of hope, but it was accompanied with the pain of having to wait for the promise to be fulfilled.

As I read it, I asked God: “Why did it have to take that long? Was it necessary?” God showed me that the promise wasn’t the significant point of this event – it was the process toward that promise that would be more important.

So if we’ve been struggling with believing that God has a perfect plan or promise for our situations because we haven’t seen anything yet, focus not on the “end product” but on God and what He wants to do in you through this season of waiting.

For those of us who may be struggling, I just want to share three simple handles that can help you through this season.

3PS ON PROMISES

1. Perspective

There’s a saying that goes, “What you choose to focus on, is what will grow in you.”

When we choose to focus on our struggles, it magnifies what is lacking and deficient in us. But when we choose to focus on God, it magnifies Him and who He is to us, above and beyond our struggles.

In Jeremiah 29:11, God said that He knows the plans He has for us. Not “you know” or “everyone knows” – God knows!

Perhaps the reason why God never shows us the full blueprint He has for our lives is because He desires for us to walk in faith with Him and to guide our every step.

“For we live by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)

The opposite of faith isn’t so much doubt as it is a reliance on our sight. When we start to allow what we see to determine how things will be, we leave no room for faith to take action.

But when we start to place our focus on what God says as absolute truth, we leave a whole lot of room for faith.

In the story of Abraham, God promised him a son. But even after a long time, he did not see it come to fulfillment. Though there were ups and downs in his faith, he still kept his faith in God. He chose to trust Him, to trust in God’s promise more than what he saw.

True enough, God gave him a son at 100 years old (which is crazy, by the way).

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

And so, if we truly want to position ourselves to walk in God’s promises for us, we need to first shift our perspective.

We need to move from living by sight to living by faith. It may seem impossible, but trust in Him like Abraham did. Nothing is impossible with God. The more “impossible” it is, the more God can do through your situation to show you how real He is to you and be glorified.

2. Posture

When we hear the word “waiting”, our immediate definition is one that requires us to pretty much not do anything but wait around for something to happen.

But God’s definition of a “waiting season” might well be one that requires action.

The verses after Jeremiah 29:11 tell us: “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:12-13).

Often, what God desires for us in our time of “waiting” is for us to posture our hearts towards Him – that in spite of the answers we want, we would seek Him more than anything else.

So perhaps what God wants to do in your life now is simply to help you grow closer to Him. This season of waiting and uncertainty will create space for you to depend on and grow in intimacy with Him – a priority that perhaps was once occupied by other things in life.

What is the posture of our hearts today? If our heart has drifted away or been anchored to inferior foundations, I pray that we will choose to reposition back towards God.

3. Person

Lastly, what I believe is the most precious truth of all: God desires to reveal Himself to us through the Person of Jesus.

For many of us, maybe we’ve been singing week in and out, over many years, about the greatness of God. “He’s the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Beautiful Saviour, Redeemer and our Champion.”

But how many times do we actually believe in these characteristics we proclaim? Maybe they’ve become mere words of a song we love jamming to. I’m guilty of that.

When we start to believe and set our focus on God, He reveals more about Himself to us in a deep and personal manner.

But I realised that it’s especially in these hardest of times – the seasons of waiting – that these words truly resonate within us as we declare them.

When we start to believe and set our focus on God, He reveals more about Himself to us in a deep and personal manner.

Not that we need to go through a hard time to know God more – He moves in positive times too! But let’s not dread every season we are in. Instead, let’s also allow God to reveal what He wants to reveal about Himself to us in every season.

This article was first published on The Project J and is republished with permission.