The Psalmist is having another bad day as we read the next few passages. His prayer today is about the wait.
“I faint with longing for your salvation; but I have put my hope in your word. My eyes are straining to see your promises come true. When will you comfort me? I am shriveled like a wine skin in the smoke, exhausted with waiting. But I cling to your principles and obey them. How long must I wait?…”
Psalm 119:81-84a, NLT
So, how are we in the “wait”? Sometimes I am as bad as the whining words of the Psalmist’s prayer. Have you ever told a child, “just a minute”? To a child a “minute” is an eternity, to which he cries, “HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO WAIT?”. Children do not understand the concept of time, or refuse to understand because in their immaturity, they are only thinking of themselves and what they think they need RIGHT NOW. As an example, when my daughter was very young, she yelled out, “I’m NOT at maximum comfort”. What?? She had read “maximum comfort” on the dashboard of our car’s A/C unit.
Seriously, we parents have to admit, that sometimes we use “just a minute” to put them off until they forget what they asked for at the time. It can be a long enough period of time (just a few minutes) and the child actually walks away to another distraction and forgets what he asked in the first place! But WE are not like that, are we?
I wonder if God uses “just a minute” until we ask the right questions before he answers and fulfills our real needs? Maybe our hearts need to be in the right place, our minds in the right way of thinking, our souls seeking salvation for ourselves. Maybe the wait is part of the process of maturity.
How long must I wait? When God knows we are able to handle His best for us and when our hearts line up with his, overlaid on His heart, then it is still up to God’s timing.
What is our prayer in “the wait”?
Dear Heavenly Father,
Lord, as we wait, teach us to wait. Show us who to be in the wait. Direct our actions in the wait. Don’t let us remain stagnant in the wait as a smelly pool left unattended but allow fresh waters of your Holy Spirit to flow through us, cleansing us…in the wait. May we realize Your Presence in the wait even when we don’t “feel” it. May we grow closer to You and others in the wait. Most of all, teach us to EMBRACE the wait as a blessing not a curse.
By your Grace, wisdom, insight and understanding, help us continually look up with a steadfast gaze into your all knowing, compassionate eyes, looking to You first each morning. In looking up, may our eyes literally lock in on Your face, watching for the nod to move forward or the look in Your eyes that tells us to just be still…and wait.
As players look for cues from their coaches, as students look for direction, glancing up at the look in their teachers’ eyes, may we, as Your servants, look to our King of Glory for the signal to obey quickly on your command for Your purpose, according to Your plan, for Your Glory! We know that the closer we get to You, the closer we come to love each other. And, you love it when we love each other! Let us help each other, then to wait in grateful expectation with renewed hope and energy.
In Jesus Name, Amen
“Pray diligently. Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude.” Col 4:2 Msg
