Is there some event you are waiting for that you know will make you happy? Is there a relationship you long to have but has not yet come to be? Are you dreaming of a big payday you know will come but you don’t know when?  Are you waiting for a better day when your life is better to seek God and surrender to His will?

What are we waiting for and how are we waiting for it?  How we wait is also important to God. Do we grow tired in the wait and accept what is not good for us just to get by for now until something or someone better comes along causing us to miss out on God’s best?  Yes, how we wait is so important to God.  Maybe, just maybe, that it is in the wait that God is doing a powerful, transforming work in us.  Maybe, it is good to wait to see who we place all our hope?

Who do we depend on for our deepest desires?  Who is the one we seek to fulfill them?  The Psalmist teaches us that waiting on God is knowledge of who we are in God.  For the Psalmist, waiting on God is “sure thing” so all his hope is in Him. Where do we place all our hope?

Psalm 119:81-88, The Message

כ Kaph

I’m homesick—longing for your salvation;
    I’m waiting for your word of hope.
My eyes grow heavy watching for some sign of your promise;
    how long must I wait for your comfort?
There’s smoke in my eyes—they burn and water,
    but I keep a steady gaze on the instructions you post.
How long do I have to put up with all this?
    How long till you haul my tormentors into court?
The arrogant godless try to throw me off track,
    ignorant as they are of God and his ways.
Everything you command is a sure thing,
    but they harass me with lies. Help!
They’ve pushed and pushed—they never let up—
    but I haven’t relaxed my grip on your counsel.
In your great love revive me
    so I can alertly obey your every word.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

We learn from the Psalmist that waiting on God is the wise things to do.  While we wait, we look up and focus on the heart of God, seeking knowledge from God through His Word to know the heart of God.  For it is the heart of God that we seek to have and to hold onto through all of life’s stuff on this journey from here to there with Him for eternity.

We learn God’s knowledge is wisdom.  When we seek God we are not only seeking His love and care but His wisdom (the skills for living well).  Seeking God is surrendering all we are to God and His will which is always the best.  If you want wisdom, ask for it, James writes confidently and faithfully, knowing God’s desire is for us to be more like Him and to be more like Him; we need to know how He things with how He responds and then do that!

We also learn that everything God commands in His Word to us is a “sure thing”—Truth that will not fade or disappear no matter what happens in our world.  Truth is Jesus. Truth is whether we believe Truth of not.  We cannot change nor destroy Truth. We can ignore Truth but Truth still was, is and always will be Truth.

God sent Jesus to earth to demonstrate the Truth of God. God’s people had waited so long for this promised Messiah that Truth had faded from their memories for a while—except from those whose hearts were completely committed to Him—like Mary and Joseph. These two people kept their eyes on God with a solid faith in God.  To them, what God said and what He promised was always a “sure thing”—even when they heard from God that they would be instruments of fulfilling the promise of the Messiah who would come to save the world!  God does what He says was their mantra so in the wait for the birth, they trusted God, even with gossiping friends and relatives.  On their way to Bethlehem, ready to give birth, they trusted God on the journey knowing the city would be crowded.  They trust God as Mary gave birth to Jesus with Joseph being her helper and protector.  Joseph trusted God in the wait when sent by God to Egypt for a while until a hateful king was no longer a threat to the Son of God in their care. In the wait between baby to child to man, they trusted God as they cared for His Son, the Messiah.

Our waiting for God to show up (already has) and act on our behalf (working for us, not against us and already has a plan in place) seems oh, so trivial now in comparison doesn’t it?

In our wait for God may we keep a keen focus on our God who knows.

Lord,

May the morning bring word of your unfailing love; for all my trust is in you.  YOU are my confidence for you are God—our “sure thing” for eternity living.  May we get a grip on your counsel of Truth and never let go! Help us, Lord.  Lead us.

In Jesus Name, Amen