Waiting is the bane of our culture’s existence. We don’t want to wait for anything. Fast food. Don’t want to wait in line for fast food? Order online and walk straight to the counter to pick it up. Amazon Prime two-day delivery. Immediate downloads. We’re allergic to waiting.
But there are times in life when we are forced to wait. It may be the online order that gets delayed in transit. Or it may be something more significant. You have finished college, but the Lord hasn’t opened a door for ministry yet. You desire to be married, but you remain single without any indication that will change in the near future. We all face seasons—sometimes extended seasons—of uncertainty, where we must wait upon the Lord to open a door or to bring resolution to a problem we face.
Mark Vroegop wrote Waiting Isn’t a Waste for those wrestling through a season of waiting. He seeks to reorient our understanding of waiting by shifting focus from the unknown circumstances to God’s character. He explains, “Waiting on God is living on what I know to be true about God when I don’t know what’s true about my life” (5).
Waiting on God is a choice to face uncertainty differently. Since waiting means to look to something, this command involves the choice to look to God—who he is, what we know about him, his gracious history—to fill the spaces that tend to attract our fear, anxiety, or frustration.
Mark Vroegop, Waiting Isn’t a Waste
Vroegop unfolds his argument using six main truths that serve as pillars of each chapter:
- Honestly: waiting is hard
- Frequently: waiting is common
- Thoughtfully: waiting is biblical
- Patiently: waiting is slow
- Intentionally: waiting is commanded
- Collectively: waiting is relational
This book is an easy read that provides helpful categories as we all go through seasons of waiting. In particular, I appreciated the strategy that Vroegop outlines for readers to apply in situations where they are tempted towards anxiety over the unknown. He uses an acronym—FAST—to guide us through navigate these times of anxiousness.
- Focus– Instead of focusing on the unknowns of the moment, fight to focus on the Lord, like we see David do so often in Psalms.
- Adore– Amidst the unknowns, remind yourself of what you know to be true about God. As Vroegop puts it, “Reframe your internal question from ‘What’s missing?’ to ‘What’s true about God?’”
- Seek– We seek the Lord’s help for resolution in the season of waiting. “Biblical waiting is active; it seeks the Lord.”
- Trust– “The final step is embracing by faith the contentment and spiritual rest that come from knowing God can be trusted. This is where focusing, adoring, and seeking lead us.”
Right after reading this book, I was able to apply the process of FAST, and I found it helpful. If you find yourself in a season of waiting or prone toward anxiety or frustration over the unknown, I commend this book to you. In addition, there are discussion questions included at the end of each chapter, so this book would be a great fit for a small-group book study.
Leave a Reply