Psalm 33:20

Psalm 33:20  

Wait in hope for the Lord     

It’s a curious thing that much of our experience of God in this life has to do with waiting. We wait for answers to our prayers. We wait for a new day. We wait for the coming of the bridegroom to redeem His church. We wait in patience to discern the will of the Lord. We wait for sickness to be relieved or for a loved one to recover. We wait for revival or restoration in the church. We wait for God to speak. We wait for the sound of the trumpet! It’s just a random list but it occurs to me that the Christian life has much to do with waiting. We are impatient people; we see no reason why God would delay. We want instant answers and direct guidance and to know what is going to happen next. The false teachers who promise us this every time have failed to understand the true essence of faith. Faith is trusting and obeying without instant responses. It is learning to hope when there seems to be no hope. It is declaring our trust when heaven is quiet, and knowing, deep down, that our trust is not in vain. This world is a very complex place, but it is being organised and directed according to God’s plan. Very little of what He has planned fits into our timetable, but every so often He surprises us with a direct answer. The rest of the time we wait, we wait in expectation, we wait as if this day were the last before He comes again. We wait, reading the signs all around us with a conviction that all is working according to the plan. And all the time we stand at that platform in eager expectation, He protects and guards and guides us, as a loving Father. He is our help and our shield. “Just wait, the train is coming. You won’t believe what I’ve got planned for you.”

“Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”  Hebrews 11:1.

 

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