Waiting On God
We wait at red lights, in long lines, and for a people to change. Life is full of waiting. But the most difficult part?
What do you do when the life God has promised you looks nothing like the life he has given you? We want to know God’s plan so that we can trust the plan—but often God hides his plan so that we will trust Him. What can we do in the meantime while we wait for an answer to prayer, a change of heart, or a miracle of provision?
Retelling the wonderful Old Testament story of Joseph, Wayne Stiles shows you how to find comfort and purpose in the waiting, revealing the startling truth that sometimes when we think we are waiting on God, he is actually waiting on us.
We live in an instantaneous age. Everything is now—or it’s late. We get frustrated when our hopes go on hold or God seems like he’s taking his sweet time. Wayne Stiles reminds us from the story of Joseph that our prayers aren’t on wifi. God has his own schedule and an agenda better than our own.
MICHAEL HYATT
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR,PLATFORM: GET NOTICED IN A NOISY WORLD
Are you waiting on God?
If you find yourself waiting on God—or if you don’t know what God wants you to do next—this book offers a wise and practical guide to finding hope and peace in life’s difficult pauses.
"Waiting on the Lord” can sound like an irritating pause-button on life—until it gets back to being more exciting. But in this remarkable new book, Wayne Stiles debunks that myth, sharing how active and engaging waiting on God can be. Just a few chapters, and you’ll be convinced!"
JONI EARECKSON TADA
JONI AND FRIENDS INTERNATIONAL DISABILITY CENTER
We have all experienced a disconnect between God’s promises to us and our everyday reality.
We wait, without understanding why.
We want to know God’s plan so that we can trust it—but God often hides His plan so that we will trust Him.
What can we do in the meantime as we are waiting for an answer, a change, or a miracle?
With deep compassion, Wayne Stiles helps readers understand why God makes us wait.
Unpacking the Old Testament story of Joseph, Wayne shows readers how to find comfort and opportunity in the time between God’s promises and His answers. He reveals the perspective-altering truth that sometimes when we think we are waiting on God, He is actually waiting on us.
"Wayne Stiles gives a down-to-earth approach to why God puts us through periods of waiting. During that time, we learn more about trust, tolerance, faith, and sovereignty . . . and in the learning, we grow up. Wayne has chosen the biblical life of Joseph to teach us what God is doing, and why! And in the reading, we get a clear picture of the value of putting confidence in God, rather than putting hope in our preferred plan."
LUCI SWINDOLL
AUTHOR/SPEAKER
Anyone who has felt a disconnect between God’s promises and their reality, who doesn’t know what God wants them to do next, or who struggles with the brokenness of their world will find in this book a trustworthy guide to finding peace in waiting on God.
What to do when it seems God is doing nothing.
We’ve all experienced it. God has made wonderful promises of hope, but for some reason the life God has given us seems different than the life he has promised us. We find ourselves waiting without understanding why.
The story of Joseph reveals, better than most, how to wait on God.
"The story of Joseph has always captured me, but I’ve never filtered it through the discipline of waiting. Wayne Stiles unpacks important and practical biblical truths that will help people finally embrace patient waiting as a lifestyle."
MARY DEMUTH
AUTHOR OF THE DAY I MET JESUS
As we journey through the life of Joseph, we discover God is indeed working in our lives to accomplish his good purpose, even though we can’t see how. God had given Joseph dreams that amounted to promises for the future: he would rule over his family. But no sooner had he received the dreams than his brothers sold him into slavery—and his faith in what God revealed to him was immediately challenged by his circumstances.
In many trials and struggles, Joseph learned how to wait on God as “the word of the Lord tested him” (Ps. 105:19).
- He waited on God for his promises to come true, when everything in his life seemed to contradict those revelations.
- Joseph waited on God for sexual satisfaction while facing incessant temptations in a godless culture.
- He waited in the obscurity of prison for God to use him in some significant way.
- Even after his rise to Prime Minister of Egypt, Joseph waited on God to bring about the long resolution and reconciliation with his brothers.
- Ultimately, Joseph learned that waiting on God for believers points us to the time of resurrection—as we inherit the promises we never see in this life.
"Few things can suck the hope out of a life like an extended waiting place. If you’re in a season of waiting and wrestling, you’re not alone. I’ve been there. And I believe you’ll discover Wayne’s insights into Joseph’s story may deliver hope to your hungry soul."
MICHELE CUSHATT
AUTHOR OF UNDONE: A STORY OF MAKING PEACE WITH AN UNEXPECTED LIFE
Joseph’s life is our life. We all have had to wait on God without understanding why.
- We’ve all faced the disillusionment of failed expectations.
- We’ve struggled with temptation.
- We’ve had family problems.
- We’ve felt like God had us on a shelf.
- We’ve had close relationships, we thought lifelong, crumble.
- We’ve borne the weight of circumstances so crushing nothing but time and God’s mercy could mend them.
Waiting on God usually means hanging on until he changes our circumstances—be they relational, financial, physical, or even spiritual. The trouble is, God seldom seems in a hurry. Instead, God often allows the circumstances to stay the same—or even to worsen—while he waits on us to change.
"I was hooked when I read the title, and reading the book gave me insight, perspective, and even a little more patience when it comes to waiting on God. I recommend it highly. It’s well written, encouraging, and for many of us, even life-changing."
MARY GRAHAM
FORMER PRESIDENT, WOMEN OF FAITH
As we journey through the life of Joseph, we will learn the lessons he learned and begin to say, as Joseph said, “You meant it for evil, but God planned it for good” (Gen. 50:20). That’s God’s providence at work. That’s a life that looks at the big picture. But that perspective took years of waiting on God.
God revealed his plan for Joseph’s future, but the Lord didn’t reveal how his will would come about. Joseph’s confidence had to be in God, not in God’s plan. So it is with us. Although we want God’s plan so we can trust the plan, God hides the plan so that we will trust Him. So that we will learn how to wait on Him.
The life of Joseph shows us how to wait on God.