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“Delighting in God’s Word leads us to delight in God, and delight in God drives away fear.” David Jeremiah
Scripture & Devotion: Psalm 27:14
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.
The waiting place—you know it.
That place between:
jilted and new friend;
biopsy and result;
fired and interview.
A moment, a month, a year, a decade.
Boredom----Fear---Dis-ease---nagging Worry---tidal Wave—Tornado.
Each, a feeling, a condition, a response—to the waiting.
While we languish or rant or fume during ‘the wait’, what we so seldom understand is that the ‘waiting place’ is the cauldron where we are tossed, shaped and tested. Where character is forged—or destroyed. Where souls strengthen or wither. Our character, our soul. Mine and yours.
The ‘waiting place’ is the arena where doubt and faith, despair and hope grapple for supremacy.
In Psalm 27:14, after chronicling a myriad of ‘waiting problems’ such as evil men advance against me, armies besiege me, war, family rejection, false witnesses, violence—David has this response:
Wait for the Lord;
Be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.
David is in the midst of these ‘issues’. They are not resolved—they are on going. He does not know how they will turn out. He is in –‘the waiting place’.
The goal of this devotion is not to share with you options of how to wait—that could be a follow up devotion. The emphasis here is to understand and embrace how important the ‘waiting place’ is to our life as believers. For it is precisely the place where your soul will grow or shrink, take courage or cower!
Waiting is stress and struggle—we want answers, we want resolution.
Yet it is precisely this stress and struggle that leads not just to answers but in the process, grows our faith , our trust, our experience of the power of God.
So next time (this time), when you find yourself in the ‘waiting time’---embrace it!
For this is the place that faith is forged!
The ‘waiting place’ is the arena where doubt and faith, despair and hope grapple for supremacy.
WAIT FOR THE LORD!
Greg Thorson
Prayer:
Lord, you know how hard it is for us to wait, especially in our culture, where everything moves so fast and we've grown to expect responses to be immediate. Jesus, continue to teach us to turn to you in the waiting.
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