Hope Reflected

Encouragement and Hope from God's Word

waiting on the Lord Archive

Tuesday

22

March 2022

Not in a hurry

Written by , Posted in Christian Living, Published Work

"Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." (Psalm 37:4) Read more about delighting yourself in the Lord on hopereflected.com

Who are we waiting on?

Most of us hate waiting. It feels like wasted time. There’s an old analogy that while we’re waiting on God, we should do what waiters do: Serve. When we feel like waiting on God’s timing is wasted time, we should ask ourselves: Are we serving Him, or serving our own timing?

Psalm 37:4 instructs us to “Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” God knows and cares about the desires of our hearts – He fully understands what we want to happen. He will fulfill the desires of our hearts when we delight ourselves in Him. To delight ourselves in Him means delving more deeply into His Word, spending more time in conversation with Him, and going after His agenda and not our own.

Wondering why things aren’t going our way? Perhaps we’re not serving Him as we should.

God knows and cares about the desires of our hearts - He fully understands what we want to happen. Read more about waiting on God on hopereflected.com

God uses His timing to protect us

Unlike God, we don’t know everything, and we can’t see into the future. When things aren’t going our way, when it seems as though we’re coming up short, it’s important to remember that God uses His timing to protect us. Resting in His timing can save us from many a heartache and hurt, just ask others who are older and wiser. Their testimonies of God’s faithfulness and His perfect timing are a reminder that truly His ways are the best ways.

David wrote in Psalm 31:15, “My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.” Even though his life was in danger, David didn’t take matters into his own hands, he surrendered his situation to God’s hands. No matter how urgently we want things to happen, when we surrender our situation to Him and make His timing our timing, God will protect us. We may not need protection from a physical enemy, His timing may be meant to save us from a poor financial transaction, or a bad decision with lasting ramifications.

God’s timing requires us to plan ahead

Most times when I’m making dinner, I prepare enough food in advance so we have leftovers for lunch, or something to stick in the freezer for a night when I don’t feel like cooking. We prepare now to save time later.

Although we feel like waiting on the Lord is wasted time, waiting for God’s time inevitably always saves time. “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” (Psalm 37:5). Committing our way to the Lord and trusting in Him requires us to plan ahead. It requires us to surrender our inclination for instant gratification.

“Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him;

and he shall bring it to pass.”

Psalm 37:5

God’s not in a hurry

On what and how we spend our time now has an eternal impact. We waste time when we follow our own timetable. Hitting dead end after dead end? We should confirm whether or not we’ve actually committed our way to Him, because He’s promised that when we acknowledge and trust Him, He will direct our paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).

God’s not in a hurry; we are. It’s only when we rest in His timing that we will have peace.

Originally published as “Not in a hurry.” Independent Plus. October 28, 2021: 5. Print. Web.

Thursday

12

August 2021

Patience

Written by , Posted in Christian Living, Published Work

“I am sure that God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that it is good for him to wait,” C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity. The Bible is filled with instruction on the virtue of patience. Interestingly, not much has changed since the original Scriptures were written – the areas where we require patience remain the same today.

"I am sure that God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that it is good for him to wait." C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity | Read more at hopereflected.com

Patient in Tribulation

The Bible tells us that we are to be patient in tribulation. What kind of tribulation has changed over thousands of years, however God’s Word is still as relevant to believers today as it was then. In the gospel of Luke (21:15-19), we understand that we are to be patient when facing persecution. In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he makes it clear that our patience is developed and nurtured through our tribulation. “…we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope:” (5:4). So important is patience in tribulation that Paul sees necessary to include it again later in his letter: We are to be “patient in tribulation;” (12:12).

It wasn’t just in Romans that Paul wrote about the importance of patience. In this letter to the church at Galatia, Paul encouraged his brothers and sisters to “not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (6:9). While his instruction in patience is related to well doing, because the letter was written specifically to address agitators who were trying to push Judaism, we understand that Paul believed strongly in practicing patience with each other.

Patient toward all

In addition to his letter to the Galatians, Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:14 that we are to “be patient toward all men.” Years later in his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul elaborated that we are to forbear one another in love – to show grace – through patience (Ephesians 4:2). As to the ‘how’ we are supposed to be patient with each other, it is not possible without love. In what’s been dubbed as “the love chapter” (also written by Paul), we understand that charity – today we call it love – suffers long, bears, believes, hopes, and endures all things (1 Cor. 13:4, 7).

“As to the ‘how’ we are supposed to be patient with each other, it is not possible without love.”

Hope Reflected

Wait on the Lord

As if being patient in our personal relationships weren’t challenge enough, we are also called to be patient as we wait on the Lord. “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.” (Psalm 37:7). Waiting for the Lord’s timing is perhaps the hardest – and yet the most rewarding – aspect of developing our patience. Practicing patience as He works His will to grow us and help us bear fruit (Luke 8:15) is a work itself. When we are feeling weary, may we consider our Lord, the most patient of all – with us both as individuals and society – not willing that any should perish, but watching us falter, grieving our sin, and waiting so patiently for us to come to Him and repent. How can we be impatient with the One who is so patient with us?

Originally published as “Patience.” Independent Plus. February 25, 2021: 5. Print. Web.

Friday

17

November 2017

Hope Reflected | Waiting on the Lord

Written by , Posted in Christian Living, Published Work

"Wait on the LORD, be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart." Psalm 27:14 | See more at hopereflected.com

Waiting on the Lord

Waiting on the Lord is something that we will spend our whole lives learning. John Piper once said, “God works for those who wait for Him. We do the waiting and the trusting, God does the working and the timing.”

Beyond producing patience, there are a myriad of blessings that come from waiting on the Lord.

Waiting on the Lord strengthens your heart. “Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!” (Psalm 27:14) Throughout most of my youth and adult life, Psalm 27:14 is a verse that’s been highlighted in my Bible. I remember the night I highlighted it. My heart was broken. For a long time, I kept asking, “Lord, what on earth are you trying to teach me here?!” I kid you not, after asking that question one evening, I came to Psalm 27, and verse 14 stuck out to me like a sore thumb. “He shall strengthen your heart.” To this day, Psalm 27:14 remains one of the verses that I cling to, because God has proven it to be true in my life.

Waiting on the Lord builds trust. “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6) We may not understand how the Lord is working, but waiting on Him builds trust. We can be confident that He’s got our best interests at heart. Psalm 37 is a great resource on the subject. “Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” (Psalm 37:5)

Waiting on the Lord renews your strength. “But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31) Waiting on the Lord renews your strength. It’s during the times when our “best laid plans” aren’t working out how we thought, and when we’re thrown curve balls that we didn’t see coming that we realize the sovereignty of God. We aren’t in control! And there’s something so relieving and uplifting about giving it all to God. When we surrender to Him, He renews our strength.

Waiting on the Lord sharpens your focus. “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” (Psalm 27:13) Waiting on the Lord sharpens our focus, and it does this by teaching us the blessing of contentment. You know when you’ve got your camera set to manual focus and you’re trying to hone in your subject? Waiting on the Lord sharpens our focus; it helps us centre our minds on where God has us rather than focusing on where we want to be. Are you so pre-occupied with planning your future that you’re not taking time to enjoy your present? Too often we limit ourselves because of our own shortsightedness. Don’t confuse one chapter with the whole book.

Waiting on the Lord improves efficiencies. “See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient.” (James 5:7-8) Just like sharpening our focus, waiting on the Lord also improves efficiencies. When our focus is on the Lord, when we’re waiting for Him, we learn to take our time, to slow down, and as a result, we’re more methodical and purposeful, and we work with intention. I like how Charles Stanley uses the illustration of gardening to get the point across. After you plant seeds in your garden, you have to wait for them to grow. You wouldn’t spoil all the work you did in planting your garden by pulling all the seeds out just because you don’t see anything happening immediately. No, you have to wait for the seeds to bring forth fruit!

While we’re waiting, God is working. The irony is that the work God performs within us while we’re waiting on Him is quite often just as – or even more – important than what we’re waiting for. “The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.” (Lamentations 3:25) God’s “good” is better than your best could ever be and it is worth the wait!

Originally published as “Waiting on the Lord.” Minto Express, Independent Plus, Arthur Enterprise-News, Mount Forest Confederate. October 19, 2017: 7. Print. Web.

Wednesday

11

October 2017

Wednesday Wisdom | Waiting on the Lord

Written by , Posted in Christian Living, Wednesday Wisdom

Waiting on the LORD. | See more at hopereflected.com

“Waiting on the Lord is never wasted time.” Charles Stanley

It may be difficult, it may be a challenge, but you can rest assured that waiting on the Lord is never wasted time.

Several times throughout Scripture, we read about the blessings that come when we choose to wait on the Lord.

  • “Those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)
  • “Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your hear; wait, I say, on the LORD!” (Psalm 27:14)
  • “Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and keep His way, and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land.” (Psalm 37:34)

We know that God blesses those who choose to wait for Him. Don’t let settling for the “good” get in the way of God’s best for your life! “All things work together for good to those who love God.” (Romans 8:28)

“Waiting on the Lord is never wasted time.” Charles Stanley