In The Waiting

  Wait. Depending on the reason, the word Wait can bring about different emotions in us. For example, if you’re having to wait in a long line, the wait can produce frustration. Or let’s say you are waiting to hear back from your doctor regarding recent test results, the waiting can cause anxiety levels to rise. How about when we wait for a loved one to return home after being away for a long time? Or when we are waiting to celebrate an upcoming special occasion? Those are the good waits, the ones that bring joy and excitement.

  

Life is full of waiting. The Bible makes it clear that waiting is also a part of our walk with God. Numerous times throughout the old and new testament we are told to wait. 

“Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!” Psalm 27:14

For evildoers shall be cut off; but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. Psalm 37:9

  When God asks us to wait, it is always for our benefit. God knows the beginning from the end, so if God asks us to wait it is for good purpose. The reason behind the wait is not always given to us. If God has called us to wait on something, we would be wise to trust and obey. It is hard sometimes to not jump the gun and move forward ahead of God, especially when the wait seems never ending. Look at Abraham and Sarah; God promised them a son and when the waiting went from months, to years, to a little over two decades, the waiting became too much and they took matters into their own hands. (Genesis 16: 1-15) God still fulfilled His promise to them despite their act of independence, but their failure to trust and wait on God cost them much unnecessary grief. 

  We believers, as a whole, have also been waiting on a promise that seems far away. The promise of the return of our Lord Jesus. “…to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”

1 Thessalonians 1:18

“…so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.”

Hebrews 9:28

  One day our Lord Jesus will return and our wait will be over. In the meantime, let us not grow weary in the waiting but let us remain steadfast in living our lives for Jesus.

“I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

John 14: 2-3

Dina Pugh