Friends, the heart of this blog is for us to read and study God’s Word together, allow the Holy Spirit to transform us as we grow in our relationship with Him, and wait on the Lord during our wait journeys. Why? Because there are times God uses the sensitive, painful, and frustrating area(s) in our lives as part of our purpose (whether for a season or for a lifetime) in pointing others to Him. Waiting is one of those areas for me; this blog was birthed out of my long-held desire for the Lord to bring my path and the path of the man whom He deemed worthy of my heart (and I of his heart) together. Has this wait journey for marriage come to an end? As I write this post, the desire for the romantic relationship which leads to a Christ-centered marriage is one I continue to wait for the Lord to fulfill.
What are you currently waiting on the Lord for in your own life? Direction on what to do next in your career, where to move, financial provision, your spouse, kids, and the list can go on. Whatever you are waiting on, it is no secret how hard it is to wait—especially, in the fast paced, instant gratification world we live. In addition, it is also no secret how the wait journey entails twists, turns, and moments where you might think this time the wait will come to an end only to discover it is not the time.
In those disappointing moments where you thought this was the end of the wait only to discover the waiting will continue, we can actively make the decision to seek the Lord in His Word. Throughout the Bible there are instances of men and women who waited on God for something, and their examples (good or bad) can teach us how to wait on the Lord in our own lives. Take David as an example; he is famously known as a man after God’s heart (Acts 13:22). David is also a man who made some sinful choices (2 Samuel 11). But did you know David had to do a lot of waiting? From the time he was anointed king as a teenager (1 Samuel 16) to the time he became king at age 30 (2 Samuel 5), it was well over ten years! Could you wait that long for something you desire?
One could argue, like us as we wait on God, David did not anticipate waiting so long to become the earthly king of Israel. Nor (also like us) could David anticipate all the twists and turns he experienced after being anointed king—I encourage you to read 1 Samuel 16 to 2 Samuel 5 to see all David walked through in his wait journey. How was David able to navigate waiting for over a decade before he at last became king? David writes, “I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry” (Psalm 40:1). Context is always important when reading Scripture. Unfortunately, this Psalm from David does not give us clarity on when in David’s life he wrote this verse. Perhaps, it was during the time David was on the run from Saul, during the time he was on the run from his son Absalom, or at the end of his life as he reflected on all the times the Lord delivered and protected him.
Regardless of what moment in David’s life he wrote Psalm 40:1, we can learn from David how to wait. Be honest. What kind of waiter are you? Do you wait patiently or impatiently? If you are not sure, a good way to gauge your level of patience is, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the answer to you. Do not be surprised if He uses a situation to show you how you wait. Perhaps, you might wonder what the big deal would be if you impatiently waited on God. Well, the danger is when an opportunity arises to go ahead of God, you might take it. A prime example in the Bible we see of impatiently waiting is found in Genesis 16.
Another danger of impatience is we lose sight of the great opportunities before us in the wait. Recently, I served at the kids’ summer program at my home church; one day one of the kids in my group (age 4) wanted to play with a hula hoop she saw one of the leaders holding rather than participate with every child at the summer program in saying the Bible verse. Explaining it the best I could for her to understand, I expressed she will get to play with the hula hoop later, but right now, we had some other fun, exciting things to do like worship and crafts; I also encouraged her to be patient. Do you think she let go of wanting to play with the hula hoop? No, she absolutely did not; she was so focused on the hula hoop that she missed out on the memory verse as well as worship time. How often do we do the same with God? He tells us, “Be patient” and focus on embracing the wonderful opportunities He is currently giving us to be His hands and feet, which will draw us closer to Him, He assures us through the desire He put within us how He will fulfill it later; and yet, we often choose to remain focused on wanting our desire now and miss out on those opportunities.
Not only does the Lord present opportunities to be a light for Him along the wait journey, in Psalm 40:1, we learn what we should do in the wait from David. Verse 1c says, “he heard my cry.” God wants us to talk to Him, so share with Him our feelings. Are you frustrated, sad or feel like giving up on waiting? Tell Him all of it! Let Him into your innermost thoughts. He is the best listener. If verbal expression is not how you want to communicate your feelings to Him, then write a letter to the Lord on how you are feeling. When you do, please be patient and await His response, because He will answer.
Waiting is never easy, and when it will come to an end is most of the time unclear. Even so, trust that if you choose daily like David, to wait patiently, the Lord is at work in your wait journey, and the work involves preparing you for what comes with the desire you have been waiting for. It is plausible that David would have made a good king as a teenager; however, because of everything he went through as he waited over a decade, he was more rooted in the Lord and prepared for the role of king at age 30.
Friends, I encourage you take time this week to ask the Holy Spirit to show you, how at this point in your wait journey, He is preparing you for what is to come when the wait is over. Ask the Lord to renew your strength as you wait. Please do not stop waiting on the Lord, for waiting on the Lord is always worth it. Will you choose to trust the Lord and choose to wait patiently in your wait journey?
All Bible verses are from Holy Bible: New International Version