Are you tired of living a defeated Christian life? Why not check out this video.
He stood at the window waiting. All day he waited. At three years old, the promise of Grandma and Grandpa arriving consumed him. I could not distract him to play or to color or to ride his bike. He was waiting. His child mind could not comprehend the eight hour drive. I knew the time would go faster, be more enjoyable and maybe even productive if he left the window. Yet he waited…and it seemed to be agonizingly long!
I realized that I am often like that with God. I want to trust Him for an answer to my circumstance, my question or my longing. So I wait for His answer and at times it seems agonizingly long. And I worry.
Sometimes when God’s answer seems to take too long I find myself beginning to lose heart. Trust in my God can waver. (“Are they REALLY coming, Mommy?”) Fear and anxiety consume me as I wonder what the outcome will be.
Then God speaks. His Word touches my heart and He tells me what to do.
“Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage and He shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord” (Psalm 27:14, NIV).
Suddenly I realize I am not waiting on the Lord. I am simply waiting on an answer. Waiting on an answer is so empty. It consumes me and distracts me from other things God would have me do or focus on. His Word tells me to be strong, to wait on Him for my strength. Wait on Him…not simply on an answer.
So I turn from the window, from the waiting on the arrival of my answer. I lean on Him to draw courage and strength. I ask Him to point me in the direction of what He wants me to do today…and my waiting changes. It changes from anxious, distracted worry to a more productive waiting. Waiting that says, “I can trust you with this, Lord. Help me to be renewed in my strength and to focus on accomplishing what is in front of me today.”
Think it through…
As you wait for God’s intervention, what step can you take to turn your eyes to God and not just the answer you are waiting for? Pinpoint what your specific anxiety is. What responsibility is this worry keeping you from? Think of a time in the past when God came through with His answer in your life.
As you wait for God’s intervention, what step can you take to turn your eyes to God and not just the answer you are waiting for? Pinpoint what your specific anxiety is. What responsibility is this worry keeping you from? Think of a time in the past when God came through with His answer in your life.
Pray it in…
Ask God to help you pick up the task in front of you and draw strength from Him. Ask Him for courage and a focus on Him while you wait. Ask Him to show you what He would have you do in this time of waiting. How can you be His hands and feet today?
Work it out…
You can choose to trust God to strengthen you to do what He has set in your path today. Days, weeks, even months and years can be wasted if we put our focus on waiting and worrying and not on God. Today you can have a heart that draws strength from the God of the universe, in spite of the question marks punctuating your life!
Ask God to help you pick up the task in front of you and draw strength from Him. Ask Him for courage and a focus on Him while you wait. Ask Him to show you what He would have you do in this time of waiting. How can you be His hands and feet today?
Work it out…
You can choose to trust God to strengthen you to do what He has set in your path today. Days, weeks, even months and years can be wasted if we put our focus on waiting and worrying and not on God. Today you can have a heart that draws strength from the God of the universe, in spite of the question marks punctuating your life!
Questions: What does “waiting on the Lord” mean to you? Why is it sometimes so difficult? Why do you suppose God does not always answer our prayers immediately?
Gail Rodgers
Gail Rodgers enjoys writing and applying the truths of the Bible to everyday living. She and her husband live in Alberta, Canada and enjoy working together, traveling and spending time with their grown family.
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