Wait: Thoughts and Practice in Waiting on God

by Rebecca Brewster Stevenson

What are you waiting for?Everyone has endured the endless traffic light, the queue that goes nowhere, the elevator music piped through the phone line. But what of those periods in your life when everything seems on hold? When you can't do the next thing in your professional or personal life because you can't get to it?Waiting—be it for health, a life partner, a child, a job—can be an agony. The persistently unrealized goal feels like an endless road. And hope's constant deferment can be exhausting. A firm answer against the thing you're hoping for—"no"—might be easier than this constant lack of closure. It might be easier to give it up.But what if waiting means to be something else? Waiting doesn't have to mean idleness. Our prolonged state of need might teach us to look beyond the desired goal to something infinitely better. We find lessons on this throughout the Bible and, if we are paying attention, in our own lives.Rather than fostering frustration, periods of waiting might have great truths to tell us. It might show us that hope is worthwhile. Waiting might even be a gift in and of itself.

182 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 4, 2019

About the author

To connect with Rebecca, visit her substack rstevenson.substack.com or follow her on Instagram @rebeccabrewsterstevenson. Follow her here on Goodreads.

Rebecca Brewster Stevenson is a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has a master's degree from Duke University and has lived in Durham, North Carolina for over 20 years with her husband and three children.

"Rebecca Brewster Stevenson's writing is consistently powerful, complex, honest, and hopeful" (Andy Crouch, author, Culture Making and The Tech-Wise Family). Rebecca's writing has also been called "exquisite" (Stephen Chbosky), "thought-provoking" (Barbara Claypole White), and "gorgeous" (Kirkus Reviews).

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Illustrated with personal situations from her own life and that of her family, as well as insightfully re-told stories from the Bible, this book is an encouraging and hopeful portrait of God and how he meets our every need in the best possible way. Stevenson is a lovely writer, and every word and phrase is a delight. She captures the hopes, fears, impatience, faith, doubt, and longings of real life and directs us toward God's faithful provision of himself and his faithful promises to satisfy our needs and desires, without being sentimental or preachy.

[Cynthia James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful

This is probably one of the most beautiful book I've read this year. The message is so apt - simple yet profound. I shed tears many times reading through this, as many things resonate so well with me and what I'm going through. If you're waiting on God, waiting for Him to rescue you or to give you your heart's desire, and especially if the wait has been longer than you expected, - this book is for you. It'll surely uplift you, I promise.

[Angela Wimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

So inspiring

I was deeply inspired by Rebecca's story. As a person who struggles daily with impatience with God, she provided both practical tips and spiritual inspiration for life's journey.