Wait!

Wait!

Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. Psalms 27:14 KJV

I do not yet see the Lord, yet I am asked to wait ON Him. As I type this, the time to be raptured has not happened yet, though it may happen before anyone else gets to read this, yet I am asked to wait ON the Lord. The word ON here is significant; it gives a picture of a servant who is standing alert, watching and waiting for the master's instructions. He is standing at the place of service, waiting for the next command. He is totally focused on what the master will ask him/her to do next. The main consideration now isn't his/her own comfort, but to please the One on whom s/he is waiting. 

It really does matter on whom we wait. Are we waiting for the results of our financial influences to materialise, or are we waiting for the results of our schemes outside of God to bear fruit? I dare say that if you are not waiting ON the Lord, your waiting will NOT bear the kind of fruit mentioned in today's extract.

The one who waits on the Lord is also charged to be of good courage. This would mean that there is a bad courage, or one that is not related to waiting ON the Lord. As long as there is anything else guarding my heart that is not the Lord, that is a bad courage. As long as it is not God who is pulling the strings of my heart and giving it its daily doses of strength, direction and peace, whatever courage and confidence I have will be found out soon to be a bad one. You see, anything outside of God is not built to last the distance. 

Men of old who went far with God had their anchors firmly fixed in the courage God alone births and sustains. They knew the storms, wind and waves were coming, but they also knew that they were only safe when they were guarded by the One who is Strength personified. I ask again: Who/What gives you courage? 

So, when I have sorted out my allegiance, I can claim the blessings. What follows after the command to wait ON the Lord is the assurance of strength for my heart. Why would my heart require strength? Is it because the human heart is easily open to deception? Is it because the human heart is prone to worry, fear and anxiety? 

The fear of the unknown tomorrow, the uncertain future and the present dangers all impact the heart. However, when God strengthens the heart, these negative imprints cannot leave a mark because the Strength of Israel has done a work on that heart. Has the Lord done a work in your heart? Is there a definite imprint of his hand upon your heart?

The verse under consideration ends again with the charge: wait ON the Lord. It cannot be overemphasised what the benefits of this charge are. It takes a man who has experienced these benefits to state again and again that we should wait on the Lord. There is not one record of anyone who waited on God and was disappointed. The world's records may show it as loss or death, but with God, a life that trusted in His strength to the end would never be lost. Do not let the world's definitions define your life; God wants to do His work in you so that His life and work will flow out of you to touch lives. Would you let Him? Would I? His time of favour is here.