Friday, March 16, 2012

Wait? What does that mean?

Psalm 40: 1 – 3 (AMP) I WAITED patiently and expectantly for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up out of a horrible pit [a pit of tumult and of destruction], out of the miry clay (froth and slime), and set my feet upon a rock, steadying my steps and establishing my goings. And He has put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many shall see and fear (revere and worship) and put their trust and confident reliance in the Lord.”
There are several thoughts that come to mind when I think about waiting…especially waiting patiently. In today’s society “waiting patiently” to some is unfathomable. We have instant access to everything. From a piping hot bowl of soup fresh from the microwave to the type of information we can access over the internet. When we “want” something, we can typically “get it” in a matter of minutes. There is minimal waiting involved.

But what about waiting on the Lord? You have ever prayed and prayed and prayed about something and felt like absolutely nothing was happening? I sure have. One thing I have to remember is God is always working. We may not be able to see what He is doing…but He is continuously weaving the tapestry of our lives by His design – not ours. Ouch! Did that last statement hurt a little or what? I mean after all we want what we want, right?

If I am to understand why things don’t happen, I have to look at it through the lens of the Bible. Jesus taught us how to pray in Matthew 6: 9 – 13, the prayer we commonly refer to as the Lord’s Prayer. Part of that prayer was “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” That means we have to give God our “kingdom” and our “will” so they can be replaced with His. We can’t just tell God the way we want our lives to turn out and then expect Him to deliver the blessings. We have to wait on His timing and give up our own agendas.
If you look back at Psalm 40:1 we see David waited patiently and expectantly and he received blessings from God. David waited “expectantly”. I had to look that word up in the dictionary to make sure I knew what it meant. According to Webster’s dictionary the word expectant means:

One who expects; one who waits in expectation; one held in dependence by his belief or hope of receiving some good
David was waiting in expectation of something good. He didn’t cry out to God and then doubt that God had heard him. Nor did he give God the solution to His problem and wait for God to miraculously fix the situation. David knew that God heard his cry and would deliver him in HIS timing, not David’s.

Are you tired of waiting? Trust God to deliver you and set your feet upon a steady rock. While you wait worship Him, praise Him, pray and tell Him exactly how you’re feeling, love Him, serve Him, and trust Him. I know if I focus on Him and His character, I don’t doubt when I think things are taking longer than they should. I count the blessings He has already given me and believe the good that will come while I wait for His perfect timing.


Related Scripture
Isaiah 30:18; 1 Peter 5:6-7; Proverbs 3:5-6; Luke 12:35 – 40

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