Waiting seasons are not the most comfortable ones. They push and pull our faith, our patience, and in many cases, make us wonder that God has forgotten us. However, on the one hand, waiting is not a waste of time throughout Scripture, and perfectly exemplified by IntercessHER: The Power, Posture, and Purpose of a Praying Woman by Lydasia Rayanna Harris. It is holy space in which God creates the calling of a woman even before he makes the promise.

Sarah and Hannah are two women who portray this fact. Their experiences reveal to us that calling is not made in fulfillment but it is a waiting with faith.

Sarah: When Waiting Exposes the Heart

The promise made by God took decades to be fulfilled to Sarah. Although God promised her that she would have a son, time had elapsed, her body grew old and hope became difficult to keep. In Genesis 18, when Sarah heard the promise of God she laughed because she felt the need to protect herself emotionally rather than to mock it. Delay had taught her how to protect her heart against disappointment.

In IntercessHER, Lydasia Rayanna Harris emphasizes the fact that periods of waiting can expose those areas in which we desire more control as opposed to surrender. It was not rebellion that Sarah made the choice of trying to help God with Hagar, rather it was impatience based on fear. But God did not change his promise even there.

The Scripture then proceeds to say, “The Lord did to Sarah what He had said to her (Genesis 21:1). This scene keeps in mind that delay is not denial. God permitted Sarah to wait to make her faith grow to maturity so that when the promise came; she would be able to be steward of it with humility and not with fear.

Sarah instructs us in how our trust is made by waiting. God is not hasty He is deliberate.

Hannah: When Waiting Turns Into Intercession

The waiting of Hannah was of a different kind, and it was equally strong. She saw each year people having what she wished with her womb unopened. Her suffering was not a secret, her sorrow misconstrued, and her wish very intimate.

But Hannah did something meaningful she prayed when she was surrendered. The bible records that she gave out her soul before the Lord (1 Samuel 1:10). In IntercessHER, Lydasia Rayanna Harris stresses that the essence of intercession is conceived when the desire is combined with the devotion. Hannah did not only demand a son, she gave him back to God.

The waiting of her changed her prayer, her calling was made by her prayer. The procrastination was not punishment it was preparation. God had heard the cry when Hannah was ready to pour out what she had requested to retain.

She was not only waiting; she was waiting to give birth to a child; the child would be a prophet who would make a nation.

Waiting Is Where Calling Is Formed

Sarah shows that we should have trust in God when time is working against us. Hannah shows us to give up the things that are the greatest. Their combined narratives are a strong truth that reverberates throughout IntercessHER: God usually shapes the calling of a woman in the secret years before the manifestation.

Waiting refines motives. It deepens prayer. It teaches dependence. And most of all, it places a woman in a role of burdening on purpose with modesty and might.

On a day that you have a waiting season, be encouraged. God is not holding back He is forming. What is perceived as delayed is under development. And when the promise is there you will be prepared to bear not only to yourself, but to His glory.