Psalm 27:14 Wait Upon the Lord(2)
“Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord” (NLT).
Waiting sounds like a passive thing, but waiting for the Lord is anything but passive. The Psalmist tells us to “Be patient.” We can be patient and fret. We can be patient and worry. We can be patient and walk the floor. No, we can’t. Fretting, worrying, and walking the floor have nothing to do with the patience of those who follow Jesus. The Psalmist also tells us what we should be doing while we are being patient. We are to gather our strength and be brave and courageous. Being brave and courageous involves straightening our backs and preparing for whatever God provides. So how do we gather our strength?
The first and obvious way is to pray. No, I don’t mean the “Now I lay me down to sleep” prayers. I mean the ongoing conversations we have with our Lord throughout the day—those prayers we pray while we are driving the car or listening to music—those prayers we pray when a problem suddenly appears, and those prayers we pray when we see the hand of God at work. God appreciates and desires all our prayers, even the really short ones, “Help me, Jesus!” or Thank you, Lord.” He just wants to hear from us as often as possible. Remember, He created this entire universe for us, and He walked in the garden with Adam and Eve daily. His desire to hear from us has not lessened over the centuries.
Praying while we are waiting on God is vitally important, but if we are waiting for His help, our prayers must be two-sided. We have to take the time to listen. He placed the Holy Spirit inside of us as a counselor, so it is obvious that He wants to speak with us and help us. As mentioned in an earlier blog, we need to shut out the clamor of the world while we wait on God, but we also must shut out the clamor inside us that wants to tell God what to do and how to do it. I’m pretty sure that omniscient means that He is smarter than I am, so I need to let Him speak. Proverbs 3:5,6 speaks to this, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (ESV). When we take the time to listen, we must believe that He will answer. No maybes about it; He will answer, but we must also remember that we have different perspectives on time. It’s been said, “God is never late. His timing is perfect.” Sometimes it is hard to be patient while waiting on the Lord, but He expects us to exercise patience and not let doubt sneak in while we are waiting.
Prayer is certainly a good start, but God has provided other resources for our use while waiting on Him.
More to come next time.
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