This Psalm again like yesterday speaks of trust. It is a beautiful Psalm – one of those that deserves memorising. It's also a very well-known Psalm starting with the captivating lines of, "The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?" The lines ring with the same message as yesterday.
And yet it finishes with the words, "Wait for the Lord."
Waiting is not something we are very good at. We live in an instant society, instant messaging, instant pudding, instant cash and instant answers. We have drive-throughs and google and 24 hour hot lines. Everything in life is aimed at being quick, efficient and faster. And so everything that slows us down gets us frustrated. Traffic, queues, waiting rooms and the little loading sign that appears on my blackberry from time to time. If our computers don't boot up in 30 seconds there is a problem. If I get put on hold and have to listen to delicate piano pieces on the phone I'm tempted to hang up. If the truck in front of me decides to drive at 40km/hr I find myself tempted to cross the solid white line to pass him.
But in reality – in the real world – things of importance take time. There is no such thing as instant love, instant character or instant relationships. These things of value require intentional and extended time. My relationship with Tim (my husband) grows and matures as we travel through the years together. My fitness improves with many hours at the gym. My understanding of life and ministry comes with time and experience. My knowledge and love of God comes through years of watching his faithfulness and his goodness to me.
God is never rushed. When we hit a crisis, he is not short of time to meet our needs. He knows, he cares, and he loves you enough to know that sometimes instant answers produce shallow character and limited faith. When Jesus' good friend Lazarus was ill, Jesus took so long to get to him, that he had been dead for several days when he arrived. Was Jesus late? No. He was precisely on time to demonstrate God's mercy and power in what seemed to be a hopeless situation.
Waiting on the Lord is a strong feature in our trusting him. As hours or days tick by and we question why God has not answered, trust calls us to humbly wait on his timing and his purpose to be revealed.
Take a deep breath. Still up in your soul. And wait. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart, and wait for the Lord.
Sent from my BlackBerry®
