5 MISTAKES PEOPLE MAKE IN THEIR WAITING SEASON.

• Compromise
  • Scriptures to help you avoid compromising when you are in your waiting season.
• Idolatry
  • Scriptures that warn about idolatry
• Impatience
  • Scriptures that will help you remain patient when you are in the waiting season.
• Looking back
•  Failure to understand the importance of the waiting season. 
• Conclusion. 

Are you waiting on God to fulfill a promise He made to you? Have you, like the Israelites, had a long wilderness season and now all you want is to get to the promised land? For anyone who is in the season of waiting, this word will encourage you and prevent you from falling into the pitfalls that others have. What mistakes do people make in their waiting season? Let’s dive right in.

Compromise

The definition of compromise is the expedient acceptance of standards that are lower than desirable. This definition shows us it is possible for a said thing to appear good when it is not. The Bible even tells us that there is a way that seems good, but in the end, it leads to destruction. The path to compromise is usually very enticing. At first, it looks good. But after you have taken the bait, that is when you will realize the mistake you have made.

Have you compromised because you are tired of waiting for the promise? In what ways have you been doing that? Maybe it is something simple as settling for something less right now as you wait for the promise to come to pass. Maybe God is asking you to wait for the job He has for you. But because you are tired of waiting, you decide to go for a new job that compromises your morals. Has God given you a specific instruction but you don’t want to do it because it is limiting your options? God is protecting you by giving you the instructions He wants you to follow.

 The commandments He has given you are for your protection. Because He is all-knowing, He knows the beginning from the end. He sees danger ahead and knows why you should not go down a specific path. Compromise will only delay your promise or prevent you from fully enjoying your promise because you will have regrets later on. Follow what God is telling you and trust that He knows what He is doing. You are His child and He will never lead you down the wrong path.

Scriptures to help you avoid compromising when you are in your waiting season.

• James 4:17: So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
• 1 John 3:4: Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.
• 2 Timothy 2:4: No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.
• Revelation 14:12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

These scriptures should in no way condemn you. Rather, focus on doing what pleases God. There is no point in you doing it the world’s way, only to find out that God wanted to do it for you too. Remember, God’s blessings will always exceed your expectation. Don’t become desperate and forfeit your promise. Compromise will always give room to the enemy. And whatever is not built by God will not last. God will always shake whatever He did not establish so that He can establish what He intended to. When you compromise, you will at some point have to start over. Do not build on sand. Let God be the foundation upon which you build anything. Do not rush the process.

God does not deny you from enjoying life. He is protecting you because He does not want you to go down the wrong path. It is important to realize that when you choose to follow God, He will protect you because you are His and He never lets go. And because of this, He will lay out a path that at first will look like a punishment, but as you follow it you will see the benefits that come with it. Also, lack of compromise gives the enemy no legal right to mess with your life. Decide to stop compromising. Just repent and move forward. 

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you whenever you want to take the shortcut. The Holy Spirit wants to help you overcome all these temptations.

Idolatry

The Oxford dictionary defines idolatry as extreme admiration, love, or reverence for something or someone. You see, you don’t have to physically bow down to something or someone for it to be considered idolatry. The mere act of placing something before God is idolatry. Sometimes you could idolize the promise. Do you think that once you get to your promised land, everything will be fine? What have you placed before God? While it is a good feeling to walk in that promise, it is important to remember that waiting for something too much can oversell its importance in your life. 

The ultimate focus should be on God. He is the only source of ultimate fulfillment. God is the only constant in your life. He will always be there for you. Another thing to help you put everything in perspective is to realize that getting to the promised land is just the beginning of the journey. Everything did not fall into place once the Israelites got into the promised land, they had to fight to keep it.

The enemy does not want you to walk in what God has for you, so he will fight you. It is your responsibility to fight to maintain it. When you idolize your promise, you give room for disappointment. The grass might seem greener on the other side, but it is because it is being watered. There will be work to do in the promised land. Fix your eyes on Jesus and let Him help you navigate your promised land. Do not obsess over the promise that you forget the purpose of waiting. God does not make you wait for the sake of it. There is a lesson or healing that He wants you to experience. And when you obsess over the promise, you will not learn what He wants. And this will delay your breakthrough.

Scriptures that warn about idolatry

• Habakkuk 2:18. What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols! 
• Isaiah 44:9 All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.
• Romans 1: 21-22. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
• 1 John 5:21. Little children, keep yourselves from idols

Impatience

It is easy to grow impatient when the promise takes longer than expected to come to pass. And you need to realize that you are not alone in that. It shows you are human. Look at the story of Abraham. God promised him a son. But when Abraham saw God was delaying, he gave in to his wife’s demand and had a son through Hagar. Have you grown weary in waiting for God to fulfill your promise? Have you, like Abraham, helped God in bringing the dream to pass?

 God does not need your help, and He has a set time for the promise to come to pass. He says that it will happen when the time is right. Can you hold on to that promise and not waver? The beauty of Abraham’s story is that although Abraham had Ishmael, God gave Abraham his promise, that is Isaac. Maybe you have gone ahead of God in fulfillment of your promise. Repent and know that your Ishmael mistake will not disqualify you from Isaac’s promise. Just look to God and give Him the room to work out everything in your favor. 

Let this scripture give you hope for when you are impatient. 

It will not always be this way. You will get to the other side. God is not a man that He should lie and His promises are yes and amen. He will never deny you any good thing. 

Scriptures that will help you remain patient when you are in the waiting season.

• Psalms 9:18. He will not ignore forever all the needs of the poor, for those in need shall not always be crushed. Their hopes shall be fulfilled, for God sees it all!
• Psalm 37:7-9. “Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper—it only leads to harm. For the wicked will be destroyed, but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land.”
• Galatians 6:9. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (NIV)
• Hebrews 6:12. “We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”

Looking back

Sometimes the waiting season can be so long and frustrating that you reminisce on the good old days. It is easy to think that your good days are behind you. But that is a lie from the enemy. God clarifies that His plans for you are to bring you hope and a future. So there is no way your past will be better than your future. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to see it when you are walking in that silent season. Instead of looking back, hone in on the skills that God is equipping you with within this season. What gifts is God cultivating in you this season? How can you perfect the craft God is highlighted in the season? Could it be that God wants to take you to a new level, and that is why He is taking you through these slow seasons? 

As a child of God, you need to realize that God is taking you from glory to glory. And will not your past be better than your future? How then will He receive glory through you if your better days are behind you? He clarifies that the latter glory will always be greater than the former glory. Look at the life of Job. After he had suffered a while, God restored everything he had lost and He gave him more than he had before. God is Redemption and Restoration. Stop looking back. There is nothing there. Focus on the future and put your trust in God. When you are tempted to look back, remember Lot’s wife.

 Failure to understand the importance of the waiting season. 

There is a reason that God makes you wait. He says that in the book of Peter. 

• 2 Peter 3:8‭-‬9. Do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day. The Lord does not delay [as though He could not act] and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is [extraordinarily] patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

God is not punishing you when He makes you wait for something. Instead, He is perfecting you to ensure that the said promise does not consume you and lead to your destruction. As your Creator, He knows what’s best for you and He has the best plans for your life. 

In all honesty, when you are in the waiting season, it is difficult to see the reason God is making you wait, but once you get to the other side everything becomes clear. 

You can even ask God to show you why He is making you wait. He might show you or He might not. Either way, it wouldn’t hurt to ask Him. Ask for clarity to see the waiting season from His lens. What lessons does He want to teach you? What skills does He want to equip you with? There is a reason and when you focus on what He wants you to focus on, you will end up appreciating the season once you get to the promised land. 

Conclusion.

It is easy to forget the role of the waiting season in your journey but don’t. Remember that God is your heavenly Father, and He wants to bless you. He does not want you to perish. So sometimes He will take you down paths that are uncomfortable to refine you. This is because He does not want the promise to destroy you. He cares more about you than He does the promise. Therefore, submit to His leading and give Him room to transform you into the person He wants you to become. And remember, God loves you with an everlasting love. He does.