Patience - When God says “Wait”

“After forty days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.”

-Genesis 8: 6-12

When God says wait

How often do we find ourselves growing impatient with God?

I’m guilty of it many times. In fact, I wrestle with it now as we speak.

We pray for direction, yet no answer seems to come. We ask Him to reveal what lies ahead, yet the path remains hidden. We know that He is leading us, but when we cannot see where He is taking us.. or how long it will take to get there, doubt begins to take root. We start to question His direction, grow restless in the uncertainty, and become impatient for an answer that has not yet come.

That’s where surrender is truly tested.

It’s easy to say, “Lord, I trust You,” when we can see where He is leading us… but what happens when we cannot?

Do we still trust the One who leads us when the destination remains a mystery?

Do we trust His timing when everything within us wants to move?

Do we truly surrender our lives into His hands? or only the parts that are known?

Noah, for months had known nothing of what was happening in the outside world except for the fact that it was completely flooded with water. The world he once knew, every living creature and civilization outside, was completely wiped out.

The storm had passed. The rain had stopped. The waters were finally beginning to recede, yet Noah remained inside the ark. Somewhere beyond those wooden walls, the world was changing…

So Noah searched for signs.

First, he sent out a raven. Then a dove. The dove returned because it could find nowhere to rest. Noah waited seven more days and sent it again. This time, it returned carrying a freshly plucked olive leaf. Hope… There is land.

The promise was finally unfolding! I’m sure that after seeing that leaf, Noah must have felt that the waiting was almost over, finally! Yet he waited another seven days and sent the dove once more. This time, it did not return.

Still, Noah waited.

This is one of the quietest yet most beautiful expressions of faith.

He had signs and he had evidence that the time had finally come. He could see that the waters had receded. Eventually, he could even see that the surface of the ground was dry.

Yet Noah did not decide for himself that it was time to leave.

He waited for God.

I ask myself, would I have waited like Noah? Or would I have tried to find a way out?

“By the twenty seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry. Then God said to Noah, “Come out of the ark..” - Genesis 8:14-15

Only when God finally spoke “Go out of the ark” did Noah step into the world that had been prepared for him.

This was the reminder I needed in life, as I am currently in my season of waiting, my patience is being tested. That little olive leaf - I may be holding it now, but it is not yet my time, but it is my little sign of hope. Hang in there and wait a little longer. Eventually, God will open that door for me.

Sometimes God allows us to see the olive leaf before He opens the door.

He gives us glimpses, small reassurances, subtle signs that something is changing, and that He is working, that the season we are in will not last forever. Yes, He may still ask us to wait and continue to wait a little longer. We may feel forgotten, but we’re not. Just because we may start seeing the changes taking place doesn’t necessarily mean it is time to step into them.

Yes, I’ve had moments when I felt ready, yet God says, “Wait.” There have been moments when the door seems close enough to open, yet God asks me to remain where I am a little longer.

Wait. Wait a little longer.

That’s all part of faith, it’s not only trusting God to lead us somewhere new, but trusting Him enough to remain where He has placed us until He tells us to move. Because only God sees what lies beyond the door. Only He knows when the ground beneath our feet is ready. He knows what must change around us and what must change within us before we take the next step.

Yes, that change within us needs to happen first before the change on the outside. To prepare us for what awaits us.

So when He asks us to remain, we do not have to rush ahead. And when He finally says, “Come out,” we can step forward knowing that the same God who kept us waiting has already gone before us.

Trust and wait. Know that when it is time to step into what comes next, God Himself will open the door.