Waiting on the Lord

Have you ever been hit with a long waiting period?  Sometimes, waiting on God can be the hardest thing in the world.  And yet it is appointed to all men, this “waiting” trial, because it develops trust in the One on Whom we are waiting.  Just as the Hebrews had to learn to trust God for their Promised Land, so Christians have promises from God we need to trust Him for too.  God wants us to inhabit the promises He gives us, and to bear a good harvest.

Often we sin in our attitudes while waiting either for direction, or for God to come through with His promises.   We search and strive, until our searching and striving become our ministry.  We are gradually tempted to take off under our own steam, and then good intentions and prayers full of wishful thinking, like aliens, begin to occupy the land of our promise.  When these foreigners dwell in our land, our harvest fails before our eyes, for it is not planted with faith.

Waiting on the Lord will build faith, not in what we see, but in God’s character.  If we look at the prosperity of those around us we will become disheartened like the Hebrews who accused God in their hearts.  They saw that the wicked prospered, and therefore thought that it was futile to serve the Lord (see Malachi 3:13-15).  When we do not have what we are waiting for, the intentions of our hearts are tested.  It is when we learn to trust God with the governing and outcomes of our lives that the fruit of the Spirit ripens on the vine and we have a good harvest of righteousness.

Those who have been miserable waiting for God to make something happen can testify that the fruit they bear is rotten.  But those who have good fruit also have reward while they wait.  Let us trust in the goodness of God’s character and pass our time on this earth with joy, whether we have what we are waiting for, or if we still wait.  Amen.