“Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.” Psalm 27:14
I have a hard time waiting. I waited in a security line at Denver International Airport less than an hour ago and was getting pretty twitchy. To add insult to injury I always choose the wrong line which exacerbates my impatience.
My wife sometimes chooses a different checkout line than I do at the grocery store to see who can get to the cashier first (a little game of ours.) She always wins and, when she does, I have to take the walk of shame with the cart over to the cash register she’s at.
Not fun because, not only do I hate waiting, but I hate losing.
I hate slow traffic (waiting), long lines at the McDonald’s drive through (waiting) and less-than-stellar internet service (waiting.) Suffice it to say, waiting is not something I’m not naturally good at.
That’s why the closing lines from Psalm 27 really convicts and challenges me, “Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.”
Sometimes the most brave and courageous thing a believer can do is wait.
My predisposition is not to wait, but to act.
If a problem arises, I want to solve it.
If a financial challenge pops up, I want to fix it.
If a relational struggle erupts, I want to repair it.
While solving, fixing and repairing are good things, sometimes waiting is an even better thing.
Waiting on the Lord gives us heavenly wisdom to deal with the challenges we face. As James 3:17 reminds us, “But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.”
When we wait on the Lord he gives us the right perspective and the best solution. When we knee jerk a response to a problem we often act like jerks because we haven’t gone to our knees first.
Waiting is the gym where faith works out at. Waiting is the crucible where faith is forged. Waiting is the greenhouse where our reliance on God and God alone grows.
Let’s learn to wait for it. Let’s learn to wait on Him.
