Wait for the Lord

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."

Psalm 27:14 (NIV)

There is a discipline in knowing how to steward that strange ambiguous time between when a promise is made and when it is fulfilled.

The promise of positive change is great. The evidence of coming change is exciting. But the completion of change is sometimes slow in its pace.

Waiting for change fatigues us as we continue to have challenges and opposition and difficult experiences in the waiting time. The struggle to stay faithful to God while waiting on change to affect transformation can be tough. When God has answered my prayer, but the rollout is taking a while, what do I do?

The invitation is to find the strength to stay faithful while change is settling in.

In these times of waiting for change, what have you been praying for? What attempts have you been offering towards bettering your life? What disciplines have you employed? What steps have you put in place? What realities have you faced? What emotions have you taken control of?

These suggestive questions are designed to grab all of us around this thought: God has expectations of us while we wait for change to settle in.

When there’s not yet a noticeable difference in circumstances, when change is unfolding slowly, when there are still fatiguing battles to fight, you and I have to stay true to our belief in God’s presence. We’ve got to stay anchored in our conviction about His power. We need to stay certain about His divine purposes.

We’ve got to be defiant and say, “I’ll never give up my spiritual conviction because I know God knows what He’s doing. I know He’s working all things for my good. He’s never going to abandon me. He promised never to leave me. He’s always going to be with me, wherever I am. His plans are eternal, His grace is sufficient, and His strength is made perfect in my weakness. He will always supply my needs. He’ll prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. He will consistently anoint my head with oil. He’ll make my cup run over. He will fulfill all of these promises and more because He is faithful.”

And until change settles in, you and I must stay faithful as well.

Wait—expectantly, hopefully, and confidently—for the Lord.