Wait!

Wait!

I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. Psalm 130:5 KJV

Trouble, pain, discomfort and inconvenience seem to be the easiest ways to compel a man to find his way back to God. It appears that when man is comfortable, he does not immediately admit his need for God. The writer of this psalm was in despair; he mentions the depths, out of which he was making this plea to God. At least, the writer here knew that God was the only one who could help him out of the depths. Not every one knows this, otherwise we will not have people who lay out self-help schemes that keep God out of their lives. 

We have raised self-help as our default setting. We strive to make a name for ourselves so that we can boast that it was our own intellect, connection, strength or abilities that brought us all we own or hold. We try our best to prove a pointless matter, which is that no man is able to sustain himself or guarantee tomorrow; we all need help, and it is only the Lord, who owns and holds tomorrow, who can take a man from today's uncertainty into a life of purpose and direction. 

The extreme also involves running like it is your own race and that you can determine the final outcome and position. We run like it is our effort and labour that give us what we own and hold. We hustle, thinking it is by physical exertion that elevation and promotion will come. This is where today's extract really makes sense: God tells me to WAIT for him. It is not just waiting for the fun of it or for no reason; it is waiting for the one person who is able to make the wait worth it: the Lord. If who I am waiting for is not the Lord, I am wasting my time pursuing after any other comfort. If it is the Lord I am waiting for, it does not matter what goes on around me, as the reality of other people's experiences is not the basis of God's dealings with me. 

As I wait on the Lord, I am waiting for his Word and direction. I am not going to take a step without seeking clear guidance from the Lord. My hope is in what he says, because until he has spoken, every other word remains empty of power. Once he has spoken, every other voice lacks power. It is His Word that sustains life, and where his word is absent, life is empty. The world on its own lacks direction and purpose, and can only be impacted by a man with a clear idea of who God is, what He can do and who has surrendered to this God. Are you that man? Am I? Can God trust that my heart is totally his to command and direct as he pleases? Am I content to wait on and for him, no matter what the personal cost may be? God wants me to wait; He alone can make the wait worth it. His time of favour is here.