Wait for the Lord

Waiting on the Lord is not passive weakness.

In PSALM 27:14 (ESV), David says, "Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!" The command to wait is joined with strength and courage. That tells us biblical waiting is active trust.

David knew danger. Psalm 27 speaks of enemies, adversaries, false witnesses, and violence. This is not written from a life untouched by pressure. Yet the centre of the psalm is confidence in the Lord.

Waiting becomes difficult when we think courage means immediate control. We want to act quickly, fix quickly, answer quickly, decide quickly, or escape quickly. Sometimes obedience requires action, but there are also times when moving ahead without the Lord is not courage. It is fear wearing the clothes of urgency.

David says in PSALM 27:13 (ESV), "I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!" His waiting is not hopeless. He believes in the goodness of the Lord.

That is where courage grows.

Not from pretending the threat is small. Not from convincing ourselves we are naturally strong. Courage grows when the heart remembers that the Lord is good, present, faithful, and worthy of trust.

Waiting on the Lord may mean refusing to force a door open. It may mean not answering harshly. It may mean staying faithful in a hidden assignment. It may mean asking God for wisdom before making a decision. It may mean enduring a season you would have ended by now if you were writing the story.

ISAIAH 64:4 (ESV) says God "acts for those who wait for him." Waiting is not abandonment to nothingness. It is trust in the God who acts according to His wisdom and timing.

But the heart must be guarded in the waiting. Delay can tempt us toward bitterness, compromise, envy, or panic. That is why David says, "let your heart take courage." The heart needs instruction. It needs truth spoken over it. It needs to be led back to the Lord.

If you are waiting, do not assume nothing spiritual is happening. The Lord may be forming endurance, exposing idols, deepening prayer, purifying motives, or teaching you to trust Him more than the outcome.

Wait for the Lord.

Not because waiting is easy.

Because He is faithful.