Wait for the Lord

The helpless are obliged to wait. The patient, know how to wait But when we feel able to do something, how hard it is to wait. Moses waited forty years until he thought the time was ripe to deliver the children of Israel, but God kept him waiting another forty years in the wilderness. Yet God was preparing him during that time for still another forty years in that same wilderness, to lead the rebellious and stubborn people of God with a patience worthy of “the meekest man in all the earth.”

Jacob waited seven years for a wife, and at the end of that time was obliged to wait yet another seven years. But through all his waiting God was preparing and prospering him, and strengthening his faith. God keeps us waiting also; waiting for the things nearest and dearest to our hearts; the joys, the hopes, and the rest for which we crave. Yet during that time of waiting, He is tempering our spirits, purging our hearts, and preparing our lives to receive the things He intends to give us.

Mary and Martha had to wait while they saw their loved one pass into death, with the bitterness of knowing that had Jesus been present He could and would have saved him. Nevertheless, God was preparing their hearts and leading them on to a miracle greater than anything of which they had conceived - the resurrection of Lazarus.

Abraham, not knowing where he was going, went on his journey one step at a time. Israel remained waiting until the cloud was removed from over the tabernacle, before they could go forward. It wasn’t until they stood on the very shores of the Red Sea, or till the feet of the priests rested on the brink of Jordan, that in either case the waters were held back and their way was made manifest.

In faith we wait, sometimes in the darkness of doubt and perplexity, till the gates that are preventing our progress open and the boulders in our pathway are removed. “…they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Wait, my soul, upon the Lord;

To His gracious promise flee,

Laying hold upon His Word:

“As thy days thy strength shall be.”

From the Bible Student Magazine