How To Wait For The Next Chapter

Have you ever been waiting for a change that will alter your life? Perhaps you are waiting for a baby, waiting to hear if you landed your dream job or you are waiting for test results from your doctor. Maybe you don’t know what change you even want but you know the life you are living at this very moment is not enough. Maybe you’ve been waiting a long time but you are getting weary of the wait and are ready for your next chapter to start. Whether your wait is good or bad, simple or life changing, God has a plan. Not just a plan that will enhance your wellbeing but a plan that allows you to grow spiritually and closer to God. His plan will deepen your faith in Him and you will learn what it means to trust in Him.

Our life is like a book and we all play the part of the main character. There is a beginning, middle and end. Sometimes we feel like we are in limbo waiting on a page to turn and question how much longer is it going to take for the next chapter in your life to begin. These answers turn the page of your life and allow you to enter the next chapter that we so desperately desire. When you are feeling burdened and weary, I want you to know that there is a hopeful and perfect ending created for you. You will be able to look back at every moment in your life and realize that God was using every one to get you to where you needed to be. Your character will develop and grow and you won’t be the same but you will be a better you.

Your pages are ripped, battered and torn but your ending has yet to come. Jesus will repair the pages and see you through to the next chapter. To an ending created just for you. We can’t rush through the words and turn the pages quickly – there are details that are so small that must be worked out to their fullest so that the ending is the way Jesus would have it be. The timing will be in such a way that it can’t be denied that it was God who carried you through the pages.

How Do We Survive The Wait?

First we start by knowing and believing that:

God has known before you were born that you would be where you are right now. He knew you before you were in your mother’s womb and had a plan for your life. He goes before you and prepares the way.

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Secondly, we must trust Him. He has formed the most perfect plan for your life. He knows every fiber of your being and knows you better than anyone on this earth, trust that He knows what is best for you. We won’t be able to understand but when we place our trust in Him and know that He has our life in the palm of His hand and wants the absolute best for your life, you will be at peace during the wait.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and He will make straight your paths.

If you are having problems with trusting, tell Him and ask Him for help. Pray this verse back to Him and ask Him to make it real for you:

Psalm 31:14 But I trust in you, LORD; I say, “You are my God.”

& remember as you place your trust in Him, you will be blessed during the wait.

Psalm 84:12 LORD Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you.

Thirdly, we continue to pray and live the life that we were placed in at this exact moment. The page isn’t ready to be turned yet. Perhaps we have people we still need to meet that may change your life or you may change theirs. Maybe He has to remove people from your life before your next chapter starts. It is possible that He wants you to learn something about yourself or change you so that the next chapter can begin. You might be exhausted but He will renew your strength and there is a reason, lesson and blessing that will come from waiting. Remember, whatever the lesson, there will be a blessing! Ask God what it is that you need to be learning so that you can grow and be all He called you to be.

Isaiah 40:31 But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Lastly and Most importantly, GIVE HIM THANKS for what he has done, the trials you are going through and what He will do! We can give Him thanks joyfully during this time because we know He has every page already written out for us for our ultimate benefit.