The Middle Ground: Remembering God’s Faithfulness in Waiting Seasons

By Sarah Freymuth

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. - Hebrews 10:23 (ESV)

My running shoes crunch the gravel as I push my legs into the slight incline of the park I’ve just entered. The wind, a fresh breeze on my face, is welcome from the weeks of staying inside while Wisconsin thawed out from its long and relentless winter. Funny, how in this shifting season, my soul is thawing, too. 

It’s been a hard winter full of anxiety, fear, and exhaustion. Running by the wide blue of Lake Michigan works out the worry in my brain, smooths out the jumbled thoughts as we slowly move toward spring, as I slowly move toward healing. 

I’m not the only one in the middle season where the trauma of life situations no longer shuts us down, yet we are not exactly where we want to be, either. Many of us are living in the middle, so what do we do to keep moving forward while we wait for our seasons to change?

 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. -Hebrews 10:23 (ESV)

We look and remember, hold our Ebeneezer stones (1 Samuel 7:12) that remind us how God has been with us.

Remember God’s Faithfulness to His People 

Look at the Israelites and how the Lord had been with them throughout their lives. Though they grumbled and were uncertain coming out of their captivity, God never once took His eyes off of His chosen people. Through examples like the Red Sea parting and His provision in the wilderness, and even when they forgot their first love, God continued to pursue them and take care of them through His covenant. 

Remember the former things of old;for I am God, and there is no other;    I am God, and there is none like me. -Isaiah 46:9 (ESV)

Remember God’s Faithfulness in Our Life 

Let’s recall how many times God has shown us His faithfulness, His promised protection, His presence through our uncertainty, and help in situations we never thought we’d come out of. As He has led us through high seas though His footprints were not seen (Psalm 77:19), the Lord makes a way through and has been faithful. When we couldn’t produce the next payment or didn’t know where our job was going to land, when we were sick and when our family was fracturing, the Lord held us together.

I will remember the deeds of the Lord;    yes, I will remember your wonders of old. -Psalm 77:11 (ESV)

Hope in God’s Faithfulness in the Future 

This is where we lean and take heart in the hope that God gives us through the promises of His character and promises for our future. As He has been with us before, He will continue to be with us today and in the days to come. We fasten our eyes forward, fixed on Him who is unchanging and immovable, who loves us more than we even recognize, and lean on His goodness. We repeat His Word back to Him, reminding Him who He is and what He has said He will do. 

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. -1 Corinthians 1:9 (ESV)

In the moment by moment living where we are no longer where we have been, but not yet certain of where we are going, we can build our faith brick by brick in believing in who God is by His Word, who He has been before in our lives, and how He continues to be those things today. God does not change (Malachai 3:6), and we can hold to hope in Him with confidence, trusting that He will continue to come through for us, even in the wind-swept days where we long and wait for fullness once again. It’s a joy to remember and rest in His faithfulness, for God can be trusted.

In His Word:

Read Lamentations 3:22-23. What does this passage say about God? List ways He has been faithful to you.

In Your Life: 

What new mercies are you hoping for in this season? Spend time talking to God about your waiting and invite Him to show you His faithfulness today.

Author: Sarah Freymuth is a writer and dreamer whose words weave honesty, vulnerability, and hope. As content and storytelling manager for Fellowship of Christian Athletes, she also writes for Proverbs 31, She Reads Truth, and YouVersion, sharing how God meets us in the everyday and in-between. She treasures life by Lake Michigan with her husband and finds beauty in simple Midwest living. Her book All the Hard Things: 50 Days Through the Valley from Harvest House Publishers walks women through seasons of struggle with gentleness and grace. www.sarahfreymuth.com