Don’t Waste the Wait
Speak Strong When God Says Now
We’re learning a rhythm together: actively remember what God has promised and what He has already done—so we can fight the good fight and win. That remembering births courage. And sometimes courage looks like waiting—not passive, but prayerful, watchful, ready—until God says, now.
Prophetic courage isn’t about being loud; it’s love that obeys. Grace first. Overflow, not effort.
Today’s trade
This series traces a simple pattern we call the trade: someone lays down what they already have (reputation, safety, position, comfort, control), and God gives something better (clarity, freedom, courage, fruit) as they obey.
Today we’re with Simeon, Anna, Hannah, Caleb, and Habakkuk—men and women who gave up hurry and cynicism and gained depth, patience, and a voice that lasts. As they waited, God’s rule—justice, mercy, love, joy, peace—broke into real life.
Gave up: impatience, timelines of our own making, the comfort of pessimism.
Gained: steady hearts, clear words, and holy timing.
There is always fire on acceptable sacrifice.
Simeon — promise kept in an ordinary morning (Luke 2:25–35)
Context & date: Jerusalem, c. 6–4 BC (around the time of Jesus’ birth and presentation at the temple). Simeon is a devout man “waiting for the consolation of Israel.”
Scene: temple courts at dawn; a young couple with a baby; a man who has been waiting his whole life.
Gave up: the urge to force outcomes and the right to see everything fixed in his lifetime.
Courageous act/words: At the Spirit’s nudge, he took the Child in his arms and spoke blessing and hard truth—light for the nations, a sword that would pierce.
How it likely felt: relief like a tide; joy steadied by realism.
Felt cost: years of quiet waiting with no platform and no control.
Gained: now—the moment God promised; joy and peace that named what God was doing.
Fire on the sacrifice: patient years produced clear words at the precise minute heaven wanted them.
Anna — decades of prayer that turned into speech (Luke 2:36–38)
Context & date: Jerusalem, c. 6–4 BC. Anna is an elderly widow known for fasting and prayer at the temple.
Scene: the cool of morning; a Child in His parents’ arms; footpaths worn by faithful knees.
Gave up: a quieter life and the ease of letting disappointment harden into silence.
Courageous act/words: She stepped forward, thanked God, and spoke about the Child to those longing for redemption.
How it likely felt: full-hearted; the dam finally giving way to a river of hope.
Felt cost: being seen as overly devout; years of obscurity.
Gained: a credible, seasoned voice that lifted joy in people who had waited.
Fire on the sacrifice: long prayers became timely speech.
Hannah — tears that built a future (1 Samuel 1–2)
Context & date: Shiloh, 11th century BC (period of the judges moving toward kings). Hannah is childless, mocked, and misunderstood by a priest.
Scene: a sanctuary floor; silent lips; a vow whispered where God could hear.
Gave up: the right to bitterness and the son she begged for—promising to dedicate him to God.
Courageous act/words: She poured out her soul to God and kept her vow when Samuel was born.
How it likely felt: raw and resolute; love stronger than pain.
Felt cost: handing over the child she longed for; the ache of letting go.
Gained: Samuel’s life and ministry; a song that names justice and mercy rolling down (1 Sam 2).
Fire on the sacrifice: surrendered longing became a leader who would shape a nation.
Caleb — faith with grey hair (Numbers 13–14; Joshua 14)
Context & date: Late Bronze Age (date debated). Caleb trusted God when ten spies spread fear (Numbers 13–14). Forty-five years later, in Joshua’s day, he is still ready.
Scene: an assembly that once held stones; decades of desert; an old man asking for hills with giants.
Gave up: peer approval and the right to quit after a long delay.
Courageous act/words: “Give me this hill country.” He held the line for decades and then finished what he started.
How it likely felt: lonely often; steady always.
Felt cost: forty years of waiting with a generation that would not enter.
Gained: Hebron as inheritance; peace after a long obedience.
Fire on the sacrifice: the wait didn’t waste him—it strengthened him for the climb.
Habakkuk — a song for dark days (Habakkuk 1–3)
Context & date: Judah, late 7th century BC (c. 620–600 BC). Violence rises at home; Babylon looms abroad.
Scene: a watchtower; a prophet with questions; a tablet and a prayer.
Gave up: insistence on fast answers and a timeline he could manage.
Courageous act/words: “I will wait to see what He will say,” then write the vision; finally, a prayer: even if the fields fail, yet I will rejoice.
How it likely felt: trembling and trust in the same body (3:16).
Felt cost: living through delay without letting cynicism take the lead.
Gained: clarity for the community and a hymn of defiant joy that still steadies hearts.
Fire on the sacrifice: surrendered timing became a song that outlived the crisis.
Conclusion
Waiting with God is not wasted time. It’s where steel grows under kindness, and words ripen until they’re ready. In their delay, these five carried justice, mercy, love, joy, and peace into real streets and homes. Wait well. Speak strong.
Tomorrow: Truth to Power — Moses before Pharaoh, Elijah before Ahab, Jeremiah before Zedekiah, Daniel before Darius, and Paul before Agrippa. The trade: giving up the safety of silence to bring liberating clarity.
We are bulding the doxa app to better remember what God has promised (prophecies) and what he has done (testimonies) so we can fight the good fight (and win).