Wait. Not my favorite word, though certainly one of God’s.
I’ve been waiting for lots of things lately: a new baby coming any day, for some finally arrived time with my sisters, for a break in my travel/ministry schedule, for resolution in some relationship situations, for peace in a great loss, for time to write….
Some waiting is joyful—I am eager for the outcome! Other waiting is very painful, and then it is hard to keep hope alive.
King David had lots of opportunities to wait, and I have found his experiences have helped me persevere through God’s times of waiting for me. Psalm 27 is such a story.
David’s Reality
Psalm 27:13-14: “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”
The setting: David is in trouble: wicked assailants, enemies, war.
His response: Ps. 27:8: I will seek the face of the Lord.
His conclusion: I can wait with hope.
Meanings:
“Still confident”: aman—believe, hold up, build up or support, render firm
“Wait”: qavah—to bind together, to expect, to look for patiently, to wait for or on or upon
“Be strong”: chazaq—fasten on, seize, bind, confirm, conquer, be courageous
“Take heart”: lev—emotions plus will and intellect—total inner being.
What David is saying:
There is trouble all around me. Enemies desire to destroy me. But I seek the Lord. And He meets me and rescues me.
Therefore I am confident that my belief/trust in God is firm. I am connected to Him. I can believe that I will see God’s goodness in the land of the living as well as in heaven.
So I can wait with hope. I can in my heart bind together the difficult present with a hopeful future (in this world) of God’s involvement and goodness. I can live in light of God.
I will therefore be strong. I will seize and fasten on God and who He is. I will take heart and will bring my emotions, intellect and will under His loving sovereignty.
I will eagerly anticipate what God will do. I will wait with hope.
And therefore I can say:
Lord, you know the pain I am experiencing because of the choices I have made, or my child has made, or the pain life has brought. You know I want to trust and have hope, but I often am filled with hurt and fear and anger and even despair and hopelessness. But I will seek You and You will meet me and rescue me.
Therefore I am confident in You. I will stay connected to You and will choose to believe that I will see your goodness in my life or the life of my loved one.
So I can/will wait with hope. I will in my heart bind together this difficult present with that hopeful future of your involvement and goodness. I choose to live in light of who You are.
I will therefore be strong and take courage. I know what You are like—You are God and You are good. I choose to seize that truth and believe You will bring my emotions into confident trust and rest in You.
I will eagerly anticipate what You will do. I will wait with hope.
Amen.
What about you? What are you waiting and hoping for?
C2012 Judy Douglass
Find me on Facebook
Find me on Twitter
Another beautiful reminder of what it looks like to bring all of ourselves to God. …to seek him in times of waiting, pleases him. So often my focus is on the outcome of what I want rather than my relationship with God and what he might want to do IN me…while I wait. There really is joy in the journey when we allow Jesus to be fully there (in he waiting) with us.
Yes. So glad He is there in the midst.
ahhh…. I needed all of these words this morning…..Thank you Judy!
Me too.
Such an encouragement as we wait for our sixth grandchild to be born, but is in the breech position with only 4 weeks left till due day. Last night spent much time in prayer for baby and mom (Jane…this is her and Jon’s first). Love the thought of waiting with hope…living in the “difficult present” and clinging to the “hopeful future”. Thank you for joining with us in prayer for baby’s safe delivery, Jane’s heart to find peace and for all of us to focus on these truths of God’s word.
With you on this!
For me often: wait + hope = peace
This is a great post, Judy. May God grant you a super sweet time with your sisters… and refreshing joy with you new grandbaby! 🙂
Sometimes it means peace. Thanks, Terry.
❤
Thanks, Monica.
I work with youth and young adults a great deal, and with tongue in cheek I often say, ‘Wait is a four letter word.’ Usually that response lightens the weight of the complaint.
At present, I find that waiting for maturing to occur in an relationship is a challenging wait. Waiting while a loved one processes a loss, or waiting while they discover how to get to a better place emotionally, this kind of waiting can be wearing on myself as well as the relationship. I take great comfort in knowing that maturing spiritually and emotionally is more important to God than it is to me, and that God is ultimately responsible for finishing the work He has begun in me as well as others.
I needed to hear this. Waiting for the Lord to show me if I should undergo another 4 treatments of a different chemo.