Sam Wegner discusses faith, waiting, and anticipatory grief.

Key Takeaways

- Waiting is a Prerequisite for Hope: Romans 8:24–25 shows that hope for the unseen requires waiting. Since hope is a component of faith, and faith is required to please God (Hebrews 11:6), waiting is an essential part of the Christian life.

- Affliction is a Tool for Good: Psalm 119:68–71 reveals that God is good and uses affliction for our good, specifically to teach us His statutes. This reframes suffering as a divine tool for growth, not a sign of abandonment.

- The "Waiting Wheel" is God's Process: This cycle (Confidence → Faith → Testing → Perseverance → Character → Confidence) is how God builds us incrementally, like "leveling up" in a video game, providing a larger toolkit for each new challenge.

- Honest Desperation Deepens Faith: Expressing raw pain to God is not weakness but a necessary step to surrender control and fully rely on Him. This paradoxical faith ("I believe; help my unbelief") is where true strength is found.

Topics

The Weight of Waiting

- Sam's book, The Weight of the Weight, stems from a friend's question about the "weight" of his wife Crystal's metastatic breast cancer diagnosis.

- Sam's answer: "The heaviest part of the weight is the wait."

- The struggle was not with the inevitability of death, but with the prolonged waiting period.

- This insight led to a scriptural revelation: waiting is a prerequisite for hope.

- Romans 8:24–25: Hope for the unseen requires waiting.

- Hebrews 11:1, 6: Hope is a component of faith, and faith is required to please God.

- Conclusion: Waiting is an essential part of pleasing God.

Navigating Anticipatory Grief

- Crystal's diagnosis led to a season of anticipatory grief, marked by emotional exhaustion and an inability to pray aloud.

- A new oncologist recommended a recently approved drug with an average life expectancy of ~9 months.

- The family prayed for Crystal to live through Christmas and Easter.

- Crystal remained on the drug for over 3.5 years—the longest the oncologist had ever seen.

- Sam's advice for others in this season:

- Don't fear expressing weakness. It is not a sign of weak faith but a necessary step to surrender control and fully rely on God.

- Be brutally honest with God. Expressing pain and desperation is a form of worship that leads to peace.

The "Waiting Wheel" for Spiritual Growth

- The "Waiting Wheel" is a model for spiritual growth found in James 1 and Romans 5.

- It describes an incremental cycle:

1. Confidence: In God's character (hope).

2. Faith: Acting on that hope.

3. Testing: Trials that test faith.

4. Perseverance: The product of testing.

5. Character: Matured perseverance builds God's character in us.

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