"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." Psalm 27:14
The waiting place...seems like such a ridiculous place for a "get it done" kind of person. I know there are personalities that are really good at taking it easy, but I'm not very good at waiting. Don't like stop lights (or signs for that matter) - I actually celebrate the traffic roundabouts in my area! Keep things moving. They confuse and intimidate most drivers I know.
Dr. Suess wrote a book I really enjoy, "Oh the Places You'll Go." It celebrates the individual and the accomplishments or potential accomplishments of a person. As much as I like the book, Suess saw fit to bring everything to a screeching halt right in the middle of the book and had the audacity to call it "the waiting place." It's a place where everybody was "just waiting." At least we agreed on one thing - "the waiting place is a most useless place."
But what do you do with this verse from Psalms? It the last verse of one of my favorite chapters. David starts the chapter with "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?" I read it like David offering himself a pep talk in the middle of a difficult situation. You know, when the cares of life are bearing down and you're starting to feel despair, it makes sense to stop and collect yourself. So long as the stop isn't going to take very long - kind of a drive thru pick me up - maybe a shot of espresso at Starbucks. Anyway, as he starts taking account of the reasons he doesn't have to be overcome by the situation, it starts occuring to him that his basic desire is to just be in relationship with God. And why not, when we're dwelling with God, feeling the fullness of his presence, there's a real sense of peace and protection.
In verse seven, the tone changes a bit. David is moving inside and seeking the face of God. This ain't no drive thru "pick me up" now were talking about a four course meal. Do you remember what happened to Moses when he went on the mountain and saw the glory of God? Wow - that was intense - Moses was so impacted that, according to Exodus 34:30 his face was radiant and the people were afraid. And as David realizes that he's no longer in the "drive thru", it occurs to him that he's not prepared for what he just asked for. He's a bit underdressed in his "humanness." Yet he's reminded about the unconditional love of God - who is ready and waiting to provide.
Now David is seeing his situation from a different perspective. He's lingering - "teach me," "lead me," "let me see the goodness of the Lord." Another version puts verse 14 this way, "Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait I say, on the Lord." That puts the waiting place in a different light. When I think about it that way, waiting feels more like an afternoon at the spa and less like being tied up in traffic. I'm quickly coming to the conclusion that the waiting place is actually a place, as Christians, we could call "home." In that context it's no longer "useless" but one of the most productive and peaceful places for us to be.
And so I wait!
1 comment:
I have a friend who also learned this truth several years ago. He had lost his job, his home, and even his health. He and his wife and 3 children moved in with some friends. They lived in a bedroom of a 3 bedroom home. Two families living together in a three bedroom home for quite sometime. Not a pleasant place to be.
However, God had plans and a lesson to teach to my friend and to the church! My friend was not looking for work. It seems that as he had his devotions each day, the Lord seemed to say, "Wait," so he waited. The pastor, all of his friends, and most of the church was encouraging him to "find a job" so he could move. For several months all of us were pushing him on this subject. His family was suffering and he needed to be "out there" looking for work instead of being a couch potato so to speak. But God continued to say "Wait" and so he did.
It is being disobedient to "Go" when God says, "Wait," just as it is so to "wait" when God says, "Go." Waiting on the Lord is not a passive action, but an active action. It takes faith to wait when everything within you and around you are crying, "Go!"
By the way, my friend finally was allowed to go and he found a very good job that paid well. He was able to purchase his mother-in-law's home and learned a lesson that many of us are afraid to learn. He is now involved in a ministry with another friend, ministering to pastor's about the deeper truths of who God really is! The church learned a great lesson on the matter, including this writer! That is a subject for another time.
Glad to see God working in and through others on this great truth of Waiting. We are always in such a hurry to get things accomplished. God is in no hurry at all. He is more interested in teaching us about His faithfulness and presence.
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