How You Can Have Unwavering Faith in a Season of Waiting

Are you in a season of waiting on God? I have been in this difficult season many times and I can often become frustrated and discouraged. Some days I lack faith in God—that he is going to move on my behalf and answer my prayers.

I desperately desire to have unwavering faith in God but don’t know how to. It feels impossible… but with God all things are possible. 

If this is your desire like it is mine, you are not alone in this hard season: God is with you. He hasn’t abandoned you. Keeping faith in God is possible—no matter what you are walking through—even if it doesn’t feel that way.

What Is Unwavering Faith?

Unwavering faith is when you don’t doubt God. Instead, you have great confidence in him. You stand strong in his truth and know even though you don’t know what will happen that he has the best for you. 

“For we live by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7, NIV) 

You don’t have to see it but you have great faith because you abide in him. This is because you one hundred percent trust him—that he is answering your prayers and working things out for your good, even if it doesn’t look good to you. 

Faith Is a Choice

Having unwavering faith in God is a choice and there are things, mentioned below, that you can do to grow your faith. You can choose to stand assured in God because you are his child or you can become frustrated and discouraged. 

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1, NIV) 

How you respond in the hard season of waiting demonstrates your faith in God. The testing of your faith shows the depth of your faith and grows it. Choose to have faith even if it doesn’t look good for you, because your God has the best for you.

Testing of Your Faith

Your faith will be tested in the hard season of waiting, but it doesn’t have to feel like a bad thing. We can take joy in it as it says in James:

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4, NIV) 

Having great perseverance in God is a gift because it allows you to know and see that you can endure anything with God at your side. You know and experience the truth that he is with you in good times, bad times, and uncertain times, forever. No matter what. 

It’s by standing in faith in the testing that you can receive the comfort that you need when things aren’t happening that you would like. Life doesn’t always get easier, but with the great gift of perseverance that he is growing in you, you can endure it well and thrive. 

You become resilient and stronger in ways that you never imagined. You can rejoice in God for this and come out of the waiting with a greater faith in God. He is doing great things in this season within you and for you.

How to Have Faith in God?

Keeping your faith in God means letting go of control, even though it’s hard. Surrendering to God shows him that you are choosing to walk in faith. 

You have to place your hope in him and not in the things of the world. Keep surrendering what will happen and exchange your discouragement and frustration for what he can do; this brings peace. 

Give him your wants and desires and instead just want his will each day. Lay it all down to him. 

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’” (Matthew 16:24, NIV) 

When you do this, you have nothing to lose but so much to gain. Your faith becomes strong because he will move on your behalf as he sees you are fully committed to him. The good plans he has for you will happen. 

It shows him that you fully trust his will—this is living out your faith. You don’t know what will happen, but trust him and follow him as he leads you, knowing he has the best plans for you.

How to Have Faith in God During Hard Times?

Having faith in God when things are good is easy but during hard times in seasons of waiting for answered prayers it can be excruciating to bear. When things don’t go as planned, or they don’t seem to go in your favor, do you ask yourself:

• “Did God even hear my prayers?”
• “Is he really working on my behalf for good?” 
• “Am I really seen and loved by God?”

These unseemly thoughts can occupy your mind in these times.

They can lead you to spiral to a place of not seeing God as being the faithful, loving, trusting Father that you  know him to be. They bring you into a place further from Jesus, when you should be leaning on him more in times like these.

When you put your faith in Jesus as your savior, you can know that he is with you forever. Because of this, you can have unmovable faith and not choose to question God. It is a process and takes a day by day approach. The more you choose to seek and rely on him, the more you persevere to have a steadfast faith in him. You need to seek him as your refuge and strength to do it and not rely on your own abilities or you will fail. 

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1, NIV) 

You have the power of the Holy Spirit within you and you can trust the power of God to allow you to keep the faith. Having faith in difficult times is possible. 

Tips to Having Unwavering Faith

Unwavering faith demonstrated in the Bible shows us that we can have unwavering faith, too. It’s not impossible; you can do it in hard seasons of waiting when you stay close to God. Below you’ll find 4 tips to help you know how to have unwavering faith. 

Stay in the Bible

Going to the Bible when the waiting feels so hard is important. This allows you to constantly stay focused on Christ and who he is for you. 

“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” (Romans 10:17, NIV)

The more you know his word—and through it, how much he loves you—the more you will be confident that he is who he says he is and can do great things for you. You will be able to wait well and bear much fruit in this season. It will give you unmovable faith in him. 

Don’t look to anything else but him. The more you stay in the Bible, the greater faith you will have, because it assures you God is who he says he is. Keep going to your Bible.

Choose to Trust God

Trusting Jesus in a season of waiting can get really old and feel hard after months and months but we need to keep choosing to trust him. 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6, NIV) 

This is demonstrating faith: showing God that you trust his plans by continuing to wait on him. If you want to have unshakeable faith, you need to make the decision every day to just say “I trust you, God” and not do anything but wait on him. 

In the waiting, don’t try to make things happen on your own like Sarai did with Hagar (Genesis 16) but each day, in the hard moments, take a deep breath and put your trust in him. The more you do it, the greater faith you will have.

Know Truth

Truth sets us free from discouragement in the waiting. Therefore, I urge you to focus on Jesus, who is the truth. 

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32, NIV) 

Looking to him and his truth will allow you to wait well with great unshakeable faith. When you rest in the truth of who he is, you can stand in your faith and “fight the good fight” (1 Timothy 6:12, NIV).

You can choose not to waver in him; instead, you can bask in his glory and see him with you. He is always with you; you can keep the faith. Truth breaks the lies and encourages your heart. Stand in the truth, confidently proclaiming who is he to stand strong in faith. Proclaim the truth when the lies and discouragement come.

Tune Out the World

If you want to have unmovable faith, you need to tune out the world. 

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2, NIV) 

The world around you is discouraging. It leads you to compare yourself with others and question why God isn’t doing for you as he has for them. It makes you jealous of them and not trust Jesus. It makes you doubt God’s abilities and provision because it doesn’t believe that God can do all things when he can. It makes you believe you will be stuck in this season of waiting… that nothing good will happen and no good will come from it, either. 

You need to tune out the words of others and what the world believes. Instead, press into Jesus for unshakeable faith. Renew your mind in truth and don’t focus on the world. Talk to friends of faith who can encourage you. Fast from social media, if need be. 

Don’t fill your time with things of the world; in the waiting, read your Bible more, pray, etc. to have unwavering faith. Stay close to him however you feel led in the Spirit. 

You can have unwavering faith in a difficult season of waiting. It’s a moment by moment, day by day choice but it gets easier the more you choose it. I want to encourage you that it is possible for you when you focus on Jesus by staying in the Bible, trusting him, knowing his truth and tuning out the world. What are you going to do today to have unwavering faith in God?