Seasons of Waiting E-Book

Betsy Childs Howard

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

We're all waiting for something. For some of us, it's a spouse. For others, it's children. For still others, it's physical healing. Unfortunately, when things don't go as planned and we end up having to wait, it's often hard to trust God's timing. But while there will always be delays and disappointments in this life, there is still hope; God has a purpose and a plan for every season of our lives, even when it feels like he just keeps saying no. In Seasons of Waiting, Betsy Childs Howard points us to examples of waiting from Scripture that teach us to understand our waiting as a parable of God's unfolding kingdom. In the process, she shows us how the gospel informs our response to unmet longings and delayed dreams—directing our attention to the day when Christ will return and all our waiting will be over.

Leseprobe

Seasons of Waiting

Walking by Faith When Dreams Are Delayed

Betsy Childs Howard

Seasons of Waiting: Walking by Faith When Dreams Are Delayed

Copyright © 2016 by Betsy Childs Howard

Published by Crossway1300 Crescent StreetWheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law. Crossway® is a registered trademark in the United States of America.

Cover design: Connie Gabbert

First printing 2016

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are from The New American Standard Bible®. Copyright © The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by Permission.

Scripture references marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.TM Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the author.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-4949-6 ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-4952-6 PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-4950-2 Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-4951-9

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Howard, Betsy Childs, 1981–

Title: Seasons of waiting : walking by faith when dreams are delayed / Betsy Childs Howard.

Description: Wheaton : Crossway, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015045056 (print) | LCCN 2015037140 (ebook) | ISBN 9781433549502 (pdf) | ISBN 9781433549519 (mobi) | ISBN 9781433549526 (epub) | ISBN 9781433549496 (tp)

Subjects: LCSH: Expectation (Psychology)—Religious aspects—Christianity. | Trust in God—Christianity. | Waiting (Philosophy) | Patience—Religious

aspects—Christianity.

Classification: LCC BV4647.E93 (print) | LCC BV4647.E93 H69 2016 (ebook) | DDC 248.4—dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015045056

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

To B.N.,

who was worth waiting for and is a joy to wait with as together we long for Christ’s appearing

Contents

Cover PageTitle PageCopyrightDedicationPreface  1  The School of Waiting  2  Waiting for a Bridegroom  3  Waiting for a Child  4  Waiting for Healing  5  Waiting for a Home  6  Waiting for a Prodigal  7  Sustained While We Wait  8  When the Waiting Is OverConclusion: What Are We Waiting For?AcknowledgmentsNotesGeneral IndexScripture Index

Preface

What does your heart long for?

If you’ve picked up this book, there’s a good chance you didn’t have any difficulty answering that question. Most women are waiting for something, but some women are waiting acutely. The thing missing from their lives is in such sharp focus that they aren’t sure they’ll ever feel complete without it.

If that describes you, you know the truth of the proverb, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Prov. 13:12). It’s much easier to stop hoping than it is to have your dream deferred again and again. Of course, those who have been born again in Christ have the sure and certain hope of fullness of joy in God’s eternal presence, but we aren’t there yet. What do we do in the meantime?

This book is meant to help you answer that question. I hope you will read all the chapters, not just the one or two that apply to what you are waiting for the most. I firmly believe that to flourish in our many seasons of waiting, we need support from women in other stages of life who have different struggles and different strengths. I encourage you to seek out other women who are waiting, to find mutual encouragement and help each other to wait well.

This book talks about “seasons” of waiting, but I fully recognize that your waiting season may not end in this life. Even if that is the case, if you are a believer in Jesus, your waiting will still only last for a season, because this life on earth is only the anteroom of your life to come. It is right that we should long for that day. I hope this book will stir in you a desire to wait with eagerness for the return of Jesus and the fullness of God’s kingdom.

1

The School of Waiting

To those who have seen

The Child, however dimly, however incredulously,

The Time Being is, in a sense, the most trying time of all.

W. H. Auden, “For the Time Being”

Betty’s husband, a teacher in his early sixties, just lost his job. They aren’t financially ready for retirement, but few schools want to hire a teacher who is over sixty. They are praying for God to provide a new job, but they don’t know when or where that might be.

Grace and her husband are both eager for a baby. It is taking longer than she would like. She has a history of thyroid problems, and it’s possible that this will affect her ability to conceive. She doesn’t know whether her longing for a baby will stretch on for years or whether her next pregnancy test will be positive.

Catherine has cerebral palsy. She’s been relatively independent for most of her life, but now she is wheelchair bound and has recurring problems with a wound on her foot that will not heal. She spends her time going to different doctors, none of whom have been able to cure her painful, debilitating wound.