Are You Settling in Fear or Waiting in Faith?

David is a beautiful picture of what it means to wait on the Lord.

But you have to ask yourself, why did David wait?

He had many opportunities to rush what God had promised. He could have defended himself, taken matters into his own hands, and stepped into things before their proper time. Yet over and over again David restrained himself and waited patiently.

Why?

Because David believed something about God. He expected that God really was the God of Ephesians 3:20, the God who desires and is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.

David’s waiting was not weakness. His waiting was worship.

Waiting revealed that David trusted God more than he trusted his own ability to obtain what his heart longed for.

I have discovered that when we stop believing that God can do more than we imagine, and even more, that He desires to do beyond what we think possible, we begin settling. Rather than waiting in hope for God’s best, we grasp for what is immediately available.

We are all presented with opportunities to settle.

Sometimes they are clearly unhealthy. Other times they are good opportunities connected to the deepest desires of our heart. This is what makes settling so difficult to discern. Often what we settle for is not inherently evil. It is simply less than what God intended.

When fear leads us, we often obtain only a fraction of what God wanted to give.

Fear whispers, “What if this is as good as it gets? What if waiting costs too much? What if I miss my opportunity?”

Faith responds, “What if God is better than I imagined?”

Fear rushes while faith waits. Fear grasps while faith receives. Fear settles while faith hopes.

Waiting on God is not passive. Waiting is active trust. It is choosing to believe that God’s timing and God’s portion are better than anything we could manufacture for ourselves.

And sometimes waiting feels painful because what we want is not wrong.

That is important to remember.

Not every desire is meant to be abandoned. Some desires are meant to be purified through waiting.

Waiting reveals whether we want the gift or whether we trust the Giver.

Today maybe you are standing in front of an opportunity to settle. You wonder: Can it get any better than this? Do I dare wait? What if this is all there is?

But what if the deeper invitation is trust?

God wants to encourage your heart.

The plans He has for you, the ones connected to the holy longings He has placed inside of you, do exist.

He is not teasing your desires. He is maturing your capacity.

Do not settle for less because fear whispers scarcity.

Wait patiently in hope.

God is not withholding from you.

He is preparing you to receive what only trust can sustain.