Who Are You in the Waiting?

Waiting Can Be a Season of Formation

Who are you in the waiting?” is a reflective question that asks not about who you’ll become when life changes, but rather, who you are while you’re waiting for that change. This question invites us to ask ourselves:

• Am I  becoming more patient or more anxious?

• Am I living fully now, or putting life on hold until something happens?

• Am I growing in faith, hope, and character, or simply marking time?

• What kind of person am I choosing to be before the next chapter arrives?

Ruth's Story of Faithfulness in the Waiting

Waiting can be seen as a season of formation rather than a season of passive inactivity. Scripture provides us with many examples of men and women like Abraham, David, Elizabeth, and Esther who experienced long periods of waiting that shaped their character and prepared them for what came next. But perhaps my favorite example of “Who are in the waiting?” is the story of Ruth. 

Ruth was a young widow. She left her homeland of Moab with her mother-in-law, Naomi, to go back to Naomi’s homeland, Israel, where Ruth risked being accepted, and even worse, her safety would be threatened. Ruth had no guarantee of provision, marriage, or security when she made this choice. She simply chose to take care of the one in front of her, Naomi, with one faithful step after another. During that period of waiting, Ruth’s character was revealed: 

Loyal

She would not leave her mother-in-law’s side. “Where you go I will go…” (Ruth 1:16).

Courageous

She entered a foreign land with no certainty about security and the future.

Humble

She picked up fallen grain in the fields to provide food for Naomi and herself. 

Faithful

She trusted the God of Israel before she knew how her story would end.

Open to God’s Guidance

She acted wisely while leaving the outcome in God’s hands.

The remarkable part is that Ruth’s character was formed before her circumstances changed. She did not become faithful after marrying again; her faithfulness is what shaped her throughout the waiting.

Waiting Is Not Wasted

Ultimately, God wove Ruth’s ordinary acts of faithfulness into an extraordinary story. Ruth married Boaz, a kind and wealthy man who provided for both Ruth and Naomi, and Ruth became the great-grandmother of David and is named in the genealogy of Jesus.

One key takeaway from Ruth’s life is that waiting is not wasted when it is filled with faithfulness. God often does His deepest work in us before He does His visible work through us.

Ruth’s story suggests that God’s purposes often unfold through quiet, ordinary acts of faithfulness long before we recognize the bigger picture.

Who Are You Becoming While You Wait?

So the question isn’t only, “What are you waiting for?” It’s also, “Who are you becoming while you wait?”  In these last weeks of summer, while you find yourself waiting for the seasonal/life shifts that September brings, ask yourself: 

• What virtue is God cultivating in me right now?

• Am I trusting God even when I can’t see the outcome?

• How can I be faithful in today’s responsibilities with the people right in front of me while I wait for tomorrow’s answers?

If we are attentive, we can recognize that waiting is rarely passive. It is often a season in which God shapes our character, clarifies our purpose, and prepares us for a moment that only we can fulfill.

God Bless 🙏 and Be Well ❤️

Kelly

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