“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.” – Psalm 130:5-6 (NIV)
I missed the boat today. I planned to go online at 8 a.m. and register for the Urban Sketchers International Symposium in Chicago. Instead, I waited and went online an hour later, only to find out all early bird passes were sold out! Now I have to wait for another week and try to register for a more expensive standard pass. I waited, and I missed the boat.
Timing is everything! Waiting can be a good thing, or something that hinders what you want to do, as I found out today. Often times, waiting for something is very difficult. We don’t like to wait, we want it RIGHT NOW, and we often want to run ahead of the Lord to get it. Waiting can make us anxious, or waiting can be seen as a period of time to ponder, pray, and seek God’s direction.
The psalmist describes how his soul waits for the Lord. I wonder: what he is waiting for…the Lord’s presence, reassurance, or ordinary things like sun or rain, something the Lord could bring? What do you wait for today? A child to be born? A medical test result? Spring to come? A relationship to change? Is this waiting hard or difficult for you?
Sometimes it feels like waiting takes forever…. but as you wait, put your hope in God and His word, and trust in Him. Wait for the Lord. I like how the psalmist describes how he waits for the Lord more than the watchmen wait for the morning. I imagine a lone watchman standing on a tower wall, watching the stars of night turn into the pinks and purples of the break of dawn. The minutes and hours tick by…. how hard it must be to wait for the sun to rise! And how hard it is to wait in whatever situation you find yourself in.
But with God, our waiting is not in vain. It is a blessing. He will use that time to prepare our hearts and minds for what is in store, and when at last, in His perfect timing, we receive what we wait for, we can be assured that we will be ready!
Prayer- “Lord, help me to wait for you and not run ahead. I ask that this time of waiting be a time for you to work in my heart and soul. Prepare me well for what is in store. Help me see waiting as a blessing from you, and give me peace and comfort during the wait. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”
Prayer For All Days 