We’re all believing for something. Maybe you need wisdom to solve a problem or strength for a struggle. Maybe you need opportunity, resources, or relationships. In every faith journey, there’s one part that’s usually the hardest—waiting.
Throughout his book, Malachi encourages those weary in waiting. In chapter 3:6-12, the prophet gives three principles we must understand to move from waiting on our promise to receiving it.
We find the first in verses 6 and 7. Malachi writes a word from the Lord: “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you…”
So first, we must understand righteousness—living God’s way. In a culture that prizes things like talent, determination, and education, we must recognize that though these things are useful, nothing will bless our lives like righteousness will.
The second principle we must understand is maturity. The next portion of our passage continues through verse 10: “…But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house…”
Here, God reminds us He knows what’s best—even when what He asks for makes no sense to us. We need His leadership because He knows our end from our beginning. Only He can get us to the place of promise we long for.
The third principle we must understand is opportunity. In Malachi 3:10-12, God tells us what that opportunity is: “…Test me in this…and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,…Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land…”
Here, God encourages us to see the waiting season not as an obstacle but as an opportunity to seek Him. If we do—living righteously and consistently maturing—He promises to do three things for us. He will bless us immensely, protect us intensely, and make our lives a testimony of His goodness.
Friend, I encourage you to embrace these principles in every waiting season of your faith journey. When you grow weary, consider this: the sun is 27 million degrees at its core. If it were any closer to us, we would burn. If it were any further from us, we would freeze. Even science proves—God knows what He is doing. The wisest thing we can do is place our trust in Him!
