Morning By Morning #243

Wait for the LORD.

Psalm 27:14

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

It may seem like an easy thing to wait, but it is one discipline a Christian soldier learns only after years of training. Marching and quick-step marching are actually much easier for God’s warriors than standing still. There may be many hours spent in bewilderment and confusion, when people who have a willing spirit and are anxiously desiring to serve the Lord do not know what role to play. What should we do? Become exasperated in despair? Turn back in cowardice, go to the left or right in fear, or rush forward in ignorance?

No, we should simply wait—but wait in prayer. We should call upon God and plead our case before Him, telling Him our difficulty and pleading His promise of help. When we are torn between one opportunity or another, it is best to be as humble as a child while waiting with simplicity of soul for the Lord. We can be confident all will go well with us when we recognize our own foolishness and are sincerely willing to be guided by the will of God.

We should wait—but wait in faith. We should express our unwavering confidence in Him, for waiting without faith and trust is nothing but an insult to the Lord. We should believe that even if He keeps us waiting until midnight, He will still come at exactly the right time. “For the revelation awaits an appointed time…Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay” (Hab. 2:3).

We should wait—but with quiet patience. We should not rebel because of suffering through a difficulty, but instead should bless God for it. We should not complain about unfounded reasons for our problem, as the children of Israel did against Moses, and should not wish we could go back to the world again. We should accept our situation as it is and simply place it with our entire heart—without any self-will—into the hands of our covenant God, saying:

Lord, “not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). I don’t know what to do and am at my wits’ end. Nevertheless, I will wait until You divide the waters before me or drive back my foes. Even if I must wait many days, I will wait with “my heart…steadfast, O God” (Ps. 57:7), on You alone. My spirit waits for You with the full conviction that You will still be my joy and “my salvation” (Ps. 27:1), “my refuge…[and my] strong tower” (Ps. 61:3).

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

It is true that waiting is one of the most difficult things “to do.” Even many Christians believe that waiting is a waste of time. But when it comes to spiritual things, being “unproductive” may actually be the best use of our time. This is especially true if being busy is only producing “wood, hay or straw” (1 Cor. 3:12). It is also true if being active makes us unable to hear God’s “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12 KJV), which may be attempting to nudge us in another direction. Could it also be the Lord is using a time of waiting to prepare for us greater service to Him?

Thus, “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning” (Ps. 130:5 – 6).

Notice how the psalmist echoes his final thought. Perhaps when it comes to waiting, we need to be reminded again—again!