There are said to be only a few answers to any given prayer request. “Yes,” “no,” and the ever frustrating “wait.”

This last one is a doozy when you’re in a season that feels like you should be advancing. God has placed a dream inside you and it’s beginning to take shape, but there is still uncertainty as to how it will come about and maybe even what it will look like.

The “already but not yet” of the Kingdom seems like a great explanation for the tension until we have to actually live in it.

For me, it is church planting. For you it could be a child in transition to adulthood, a marriage that is struggling, or a career change.

You know it will be ok if you can just outlast the trial. God has got this. He will do it, so it is as if it has already been done. But the pressure of the wait can be crushing.

I want to share a recent discussion with my husband that has helped me press onward during one of the most trying times in my life:

The I95 northbound traffic was nonexistent the day I drove Peter to the airport. It was perhaps the only time I had hoped for heavy traffic, as it would mean a few more moments in his presence.

But, as planned, he was to board his plane to Afghanistan in a timely fashion and I would not see him for several months. The total deployment would be thirteen months, just like the last time.

I asked if he had all that he needed for the trip.

“Everything but what they give me when I get there,” he replied flatly.

I had recently stepped away from our home church to plant New Wine Community Church and the task seemed overwhelming now that my husband was leaving the country. But God reassured me through this simple conversation and those words have carried me through the last few months.

I’ll have everything I need when I get there.

The days are long and the warfare is often heavy, but God’s mercies are new every morning. I find myself relying completely on that mercy to be available the moment I require it.

I have everything I need. If I don’t have it, I don’t need it yet.

It doesn’t matter what situations look like, how hopeless or exciting. Only God knows the outcome and He’s got my back!

He is preparing a table. And while I long to sit down and feast, this is a season of preparations; a time of building the groundwork that I can sustain all the blessings He is about to pour out.

Laying foundations doesn’t feel like advancement. Don’t let feelings deter you from this important work.

Get ready. The rain is coming, and your Father doesn’t want you to miss a single drop of His goodness. Press into His mercies and keep waiting.

Good things come to those who wait on the Lord.

Your sister,

Monica