This isn’t the scripture that I originally planned to bring this morning. It was in my daily readings in the psalms and spoke to me.
I admit that I am getting impatient – with Covid, with semi-lockdown, with problems that keep coming back. I would like the Lord to act now!
But Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait for the Lord!” It says it twice – once at the beginning and once at the end of the verse. It says it twice because it is something that we need to do. Whether we are waiting for God to provide us with a new job, or with deliverance from sickness, or with answered prayer for someone in our family, or with the ending of Covid-19, God’s word says, “wait for the Lord.”
Waiting in the Bible is waiting with expectation. It isn’t just hoping that maybe something will change, it is waiting and looking and praying and trusting God to come and change the situation in His time.
That is hard. Some of us have waited a long time for God to answer. That is why the middle of the verse says: “Be strong and let your heart take courage.”
This is the same thing that God says to Joshua before he leads the people into the promised land (Joshua 1:6). It takes God’s strength and courage to lead His people. But it also takes God’s strength and courage to wait for Him to answer our prayers.
Where does strength and courage come from? They come from Him. I said that waiting is looking and praying and trusting the Lord. Waiting is looking to the Lord, which means to look at who He is, to see from His word how great He is, to remember that He is the covenant keeping God, that He is good and unchanging and faithful.
As we look to Him in this way, strength and courage grow and we can wait for Him. We can trust Him to answer in His time. We have strength to stay patient and to rest on His promises and to know His peace.
The best is yet to come 