I woke up today thinking about waiting. About silence. About how hard it is to trust when life feels uncertain.
This past week, I woke up to a storm—and a leaking roof. It was one of those mornings where life smacked me right in the face before I’d even had my coffee. As I stood there staring at the mess, I felt that familiar wave of frustration and loneliness creeping in. Memories from the past seven years grabbed hold of me, and before I knew it, I was spiraling. My mind was racing. My mouth, too, if I’m being honest.
Why can’t things just be easy?
But it wasn’t just the roof. It was everything. The unexpected struggles. The setbacks. The triggers. The unanswered prayers. The waiting.
And the truth is—I hate waiting. I like action. I like answers. I like knowing what’s coming next. I like having a roadmap and a plan.
But as I sat with God that morning, after I got the buckets and towels situated, I found myself back in Genesis 16—the story of Hagar. And then I turned the page to Genesis 17, and something hit me in a way it never had before.
Between those two chapters, thirteen years passed.
Thirteen years.
Thirteen years where God said nothing.
When God Goes Quiet
Imagine what that must have felt like for Abraham.
God had made this huge promise to him—"I will make you into a great nation"—and then… silence. No updates. No signs. No reminders that the promise was still on its way.
And that’s when it hit me—maybe I am in my own “thirteen-year waiting period.”
Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t think it’s actually going to be thirteen years (Lord, I hope not). But I do know I’m in a season where I don’t have all the answers. I don’t know exactly what the future holds. I don’t know how certain struggles will resolve, what our new normal looks like when life “life’s,” how certain prayers will be answered, or how long this waiting will last.
And that’s uncomfortable. I don’t like it. At all.
But the truth is—waiting is always uncomfortable.
And I know I’m not alone in this.
Maybe you’re waiting, too.
Maybe you’re waiting for healing. For clarity. For a relationship to be restored. For a financial breakthrough. For direction in your career. For a prayer to be answered that feels like it’s taking forever. For a child to come back home. For the offer to be accepted.
Or maybe you’re like me—just waiting for a little bit of peace.
And in the waiting, the enemy whispers lies:
God has forgotten you.
Nothing is ever going to change.
If He really loved you, you wouldn’t be struggling like this.
You really are alone.
I know those lies well. I’ve believed them more times than I care to admit.
But here’s what I’m learning—silence does not mean absence.
God was just as present with Abraham in those thirteen silent years as He was the day He made the promise.
And He is just as present with me. With you. Right now.
When We Want Answers, God Wants Surrender
Here’s something else I noticed.
Right in the middle of all this waiting, God changed Abram’s name to Abraham.
Why?
Because Abraham means “Father of Many Nations.”
God renamed him before he even had a single child with Sarah. He called him something that didn’t make sense in his present reality. But God wasn’t looking at his current situation—He was looking at the promise.
And I wonder…
What is God calling me in this season that I haven’t fully stepped into yet?
What is He calling you?
Faithful? Worthy? Chosen? Healed? Brave? Loved? Mom? Wife? Friend?
Even if you don’t feel it yet?
God asked Abraham to walk with Him and trust Him—before the evidence of the promise even showed up.
And maybe that’s what He’s asking me to do right now, too.
Maybe that’s what He’s asking you to do.
To trust before you see.
To believe before you understand.
To know He is working even when everything feels quiet.
Because just like He saw Hagar alone in the wilderness, He sees us in the waiting.
And His promises are still true.
A Question for You
Have you ever been in a season where it felt like God was silent?
What did you learn from it?
Final Thought
Dear little girl,
If you are waiting right now, I want you to know that you are not forgotten. God has not left you. He is working behind the scenes, even when you don’t see it.
And just like Abraham, when the time is right, the promise will come.
Until then?
Keep walking. Keep trusting.
Even in the silence.
A Prayer for the Waiting Season
Father,
Waiting is hard. It stretches me in ways I don’t like, and if I’m honest, sometimes it feels like You’re silent. But I know You are here. I know You are working, even when I can’t see it.
Help me to trust You in the waiting. To surrender my need for control and embrace the peace that comes from knowing You are faithful. When the enemy whispers lies—telling me I am forgotten, that nothing will change, that I am alone—remind me of Your truth.
You are with me. You see me. You hear me. You love me.
Lord, help me believe that Your timing is perfect, even when it doesn’t align with mine. Strengthen my heart when doubt creeps in. Give me the patience to wait well, knowing that what You have for me is worth the wait.
And just like You saw Hagar in the wilderness, just like You fulfilled Your promise to Abraham, I trust that You see me now—and that Your promises for my life are still true.
I choose to keep walking. To keep trusting. Even in the silence.
Amen.
