Wait On The Lord

We all have been there at one time or another, probably many times throughout our life-in that waiting process. We may be waiting for our vacation, waiting for that great job, waiting for that special someone, waiting for our healing, waiting for news from friends and family or waiting for something special to happen in our life. Wait, wait, wait. It's hard to wait! Just ask any child! I remember when I was young, and I would ask for something. My parents always had enough to go around, but usually there wasn't enough money for too many extra things. When asked the question, "Can I have..." the answer would usually be, "Wait until next week", or "Wait until you're older", or "Not this time, maybe next". It becomes disappointing to say the leas, especially when we feel that we just HAVE to have that particular item or pleasure. Our parents were not doing it to be mean, they may just not have had the means to give in to our desires or they knew that the particular thing we were asking for would be better for us when we were old enough to enjoy it.

In the spiritual it is hard to wait also. Especially when our spirit wants to wait on God but our flesh is not as patient! But as we mature in Christ, we find that those times of waiting are for our good. God is our Father and He does not withhold any good thing from those who walk uprightly (Psalms 84:11). But sometimes the answer to our prayers and desires is "Wait".

It is during those times of waiting on God that we find strength, growth and character. If God gave in to us we would be like the spoiled child whom his parents gives him anything he asks for-- impatient, rude and immature.

Recently I found this to be true in my own life. I was in a particular situation and I knew the Lord was changing things for me but it was hard to wait. So hard! Several times before I tried to venture out on my own, and found to my dismay that my peace and contentment were gone because I did not wait on the Lord's timing. I needed to stay where God had placed me and find the peace and contentment there in Him.

The Psalms are filled with verses about waiting on the Lord. It is in one particular verse that I found my deliverance during my waiting period. Psalms 37:7-9 says we are to "Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him." Also while we are waiting we are not to fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. We are to stop being angry and forsake wrath, "do not fret-it only causes harm." Those who do evil with be cut off, "but those who wait on the LORD they shall inherit the earth". I learned such a valuable lesson in these verses. The first "wait" in verse 7 means to be in pain, sorrowful, be wounded. How many times do we feel like that when we are waiting for the Lord to move on our behalf? We feel pain; we feel sad. It is a pain such as a woman giving birth. But the wonderful thing about that kind of pain (so I am told) is once the child is born, the woman does not remember the pain.

The second "wait" in verse 9 means to bind together by twisting- it gives the idea of us twisting our little bit of strength around God's great big strength! The two are united and cannot be broken. We actually become part of God's strength. We exchange our weakness for His strength! We become a partaker of His character.

In the middle of those two verses is a power packed verse- a life lesson if you will--I saw this so clearly and God drove it home into my spirit during my time of waiting. Verse 8 tells us to not be angry, to do away with wrath- and to not fret!! Why-because it only causes harm! Harm to whom? Me!! During my time of waiting in this particular situation I was not displaying a very Christ-like attitude. Anger and wrath were interfering with my peace and my sleep! Talk about being stressed out. Over and over again in my mind the parade marched through- the hurtful words spoken to me, the untrue accusations, the preconceived conversations against me and my imagined responses and how best I could vindicate myself. My fretting caused me harm. 1 Timothy 6:4 calls these "evil suspicions". They rob us of our joy and peace and break the unity that we have with Christ. The other person knew nothing about it. Their comments and actions didn't affect their sleep! They went on about their life and I was frozen in time. I had allowed the actions of this particular person to steal away my joy and peace. Finally when God got my attention on this, I saw that fretting about some one's wrong doing and why God hasn't punished them-only caused me harm! I had to let it in God's hand. And when I did that, peace and joy flooded my soul! My weakness became His strength. My little strand wrapped around His giant rope and we became one!

That verse also says that those who wait on the Lord will inherit the earth. What earth? My soulish nature. My spirit knew to do the right thing, but my soul, my flesh, did not want to cooperate until finally God allowed me to be so miserable, I woke up and smelled the rotten attitudes that I had been displaying! We learn to possess our souls on earth. When we don't, we cause harm to our minds, our faith and our bodies. When I put that person in God's hands, I then had the peace and I could treat them godly. I realized that I was not responsible for their actions. I was responsible for mine! I was to act godly no matter how I was treated.

Another verse I love on waiting is Isaiah 40:31-"But they that wait on the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint." This word wait comes from the same root word as the wait in Psalms 37:7-- our weakness is exchanged for His strength. Our little strand wraps around His giant rope and we become one. Those eagles fly above the wind, above the storms and difficulties. We have all read those stories about this verse and have an illustration in our minds, seeing those regal birds spread out their wings and fly far above the winds, storms and circumstances that would otherwise bring them down--literally! We are to be the same-as those eagles-flying above the circumstances and difficulties of life. And the only way we can do this is by waiting on the Lord-allowing our weakness to become His strength. Allowing us to become one with Him.

Back to my particular situation. When the time was right and the waiting over- I knew it. I had the peace that passes all understanding. God had me in that particular situation for a purpose- to grow, to learn more about Him, to become more like Him. I am not saying that I have arrived or I will never have another time of waiting through difficult situations. I am still waiting on the Lord to fulfill some things in my life. I am still in that process. Then, on the other hand, there are many things in which He has answered my prayers. The waiting period was accomplished and God brought me through.

As Christians, we will never have a time in our life when there are not difficulties and trials. Those are the very things that make us strong and mature eagles. It is in the waiting process where we become one with Jesus Christ. It is during those times of travail down on our knees in prayer seeking His strength, His presence, His peace and His character. Those times will never completely bypass us until we are home in glory. So during those times of waiting, we must remember that we are exchanging our weakness for His strength and character and even though there is pain and sorrow involved in waiting, when the process is over we forget the pain but we remember the lessons. The sorrow is gone and the joy has come! We must not hang onto the pain of our trials for we will be tempted to retaliate. God said that vengeance belonged only to Him. We must put those who have hurt us into God's hands. He alone knows best how to deal with them. It is possible that we were the offender one time and someone put us in God's hands instead of dealing with us by themselves. That allowed God time to work on us. And it will allow God time to work on others.

Wait, wait, wait on the Lord!