Wait for the Lord

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord." - Psalm 27:14

When we pray and make requests to God we almost always desire an immediate answer. "Lord, will you please give me this job?" "Will you please take away this disease?" Or, essentially, "Please bring into my life or remove from my life this situation, person, or object so that I will feel more comfortable." And as soon as we have prayed, we earnestly seek for an immediate fulfillment of the prayer. Yet time after time again, we become frustrated and angry with God for "not answering our prayers." And due to the silence, we allow lies, doubts, and unbelief to creep into our hearts. Therefore, slowly, as time goes on, we pray, but we really do not expect any answer, and so we faithlessly throw our prayers to the wind.

Let's face it. Selfish prayers aside, even with our sincerest prayers we do not like to wait. Why do we not like to wait? Most assuredly, we have difficulty waiting because we are sinners, and therefore it is difficult for us to live virtuously, according to the perfect character we possessed before our fall to sin. In addition to our indvidual inherent sinfulness, we are also powerfully influenced by the inherent sinfulness and impatience of American society.

The United States of America is arguably the strongest contender for a society that does not like to wait - for anything. We have fast food restaurants on every street corner. We have microwave dinners. We have remote controls. We have credit cards. While these things are not inherently bad, when our country is viewed wholistically with the number of products and restaurants designed to bring immediate gratification, one must become suspicious of a more deeply rooted problem.

The area of health and medicine is a perfect example of this, for we have millions of people who cannot wait, but who want things now now now! Is it of any coincidence the America is the leading consumer of pain medications? We do not like pain. We want it gone immediately. If we have a head ache or back pain, rather than letting it pass or engaging in an activity that will naturally relieve or lessen the pain, we immediately pop a pain pill; and, sadly, for those who are further along in their dependency, stronger, heavier narcotics. There exists an entire subculture of individuals who are dependent on drugs to solve their problems of physical pain, depression, and anxiety. They no longer wish to take responsibility for their own problems, which would take time and energy, but think they can solve it with the pop of a pill. The sad reality of their life is that they push healing farther and farther away.

In the midst of a culture that screams "give it to me now," the holy, inerrant word of God wisely and uncompromisingly says "wait." Why is waiting in faith so critically foundational to the life of an individual? When one waits, he acknowledges the fact that he is not the God of the universe and that someone much greater is in control of it all. Why do we wait? We wait because the Lord is omnipotent, and we are not. We wait because the Lord is omniscient, and we are not. We wait because he is in perfect sovereign control over all things, and we are not. We wait because he is infinitely wise, and we are not. The Lord says in Isaiah 55:9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." And lastly, we wait with unshakable confidence because due to the inexhaustible depth of God's love, we have been bought with the priceless blood of his own son Jesus Christ, and we have been given a promise that "He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." We have nothing to fear when we are child of God. Our hearts can take courage in the Lord. The Lord knows what is best and when it is best. We must have faith in his character and his promises. Let us therefore take to heart the psalmist's exhortation, "Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord!"