Waiting on God – Moment to Moment (Bible blog)

It has been said that when we fear God, we need not fear anything else. And we see this so clearly in Psalm 27.

David starts by singing,

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?

When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh,
when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.

Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me, even then will I be confident. (Psalm 27:1–3)

Even in the midst of trouble, David’s first thought was not of his deliverance from his problems, but of seeking God’s face. Of having sweet fellowship with his Savior. He prays,

One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple. (4)

So often, especially in times of trouble, our prayers are, “Help me.”

But in times of trouble, David cried out, “I want you. I want to look upon you. I want to know you.”

Why? Because he knew that if he put himself in God’s hands, God would take care of him. He sang,

For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.

Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me;
at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make music to the LORD. (5–6)

I like how the NASB puts verse 8.

When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, O LORD, I shall seek.”

Here we see God calling out to us, saying, “Seek me.”

How often do we miss out on peace in our lives because we fail to do just that? Instead, we focus on our problems and in the process become overwhelmed by them.

How much better would our lives be if we took our eyes off of these things, turned our eyes toward God, and said, “Your face, O Lord, I will seek?”

For though those around us may abandon us or let us down, God never will. As David sang,

Though my father and mother forsake me,
the LORD will receive me. (10)

Then after praying for God’s guidance and deliverance through his troubles, he proclaims,

I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. (13)

It’s so easy to say, “God is good,” when things are good. But how often do we proclaim his goodness when things are bad?

But because David has his eyes firmly fixed upon God, even though things were rough, he could still say, “God is good.”

And so he tells us who are struggling as he did,

Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD. (14)

Lord, through times of trouble, help me to wait on you. Help me to keep believing in your goodness. Help me to remember that you’re always with me, though I can’t always see or feel you.

Lord, my one desire is to know you. Help me to hear your voice as you call to me. And give me a heart that seeks you always. In Jesus’ name, amen.

When it’s hard to wait

Several years ago, when I was traveling to Hawaii from Japan, I decided to save a few yen and go through Korea.

Bad choice. As we arrived in Korea, there was a fog, and the plane couldn’t land.

After circling for a while, we landed at the old Korean airport, and there we stayed for at least an hour, perhaps two or three.

And that entire time, I had to stay in my cramped economy class airplane seat, bored to tears.

Finally, we were able to take off and land at the new airport. Needless to say, I vowed never to go through Korea again.

I kind of wonder if that’s how Noah and his family felt in that ark.

We often talk about how it rained for 40 days and nights, but we don’t think very often about how long they actually stayed in the ark. Five months after the flood started, they finally land on dry ground.

Sort of, anyway. They landed on the top of a mountain. So the motion sickness part of their trip was over. But their cabin sickness part didn’t end for another 7 months.

Altogether, Noah and his family were in the ark for a year before God finally said, “Okay Noah, it’s okay to leave the ark.”

I can’t imagine having to do that. I mean it’s bad enough waiting five months on water. But then the boat actually lands on sort of solid ground, and you have to wait another 7 months after that.

Every day, you have to feed a ton of animals and deal with the manure. And that was the fun part of the day. The rest of the time, you’re just twiddling your thumbs waiting for the go-ahead to leave. Talk about going stir crazy.

How many times does God ask us to wait in our lives for his timing? And how do we react to it?

I remember wanting to go to Japan right after I finished college. But for whatever the reasons, the doors kept closing on me. I had to wait a full year before I could finally go.

But in that time, God gave me a job at a computer firm. Literally. I didn’t go searching for the job; it came to me. And God kept me there just long enough for me to know that it wasn’t the life for me.

If I had gone to Japan right away, I probably would’ve wondered what would’ve happened if I had actually done something with my major (management information systems). But by being forced to wait, now I know, and I have no regrets.

I remember waiting for the right woman to come into my life. I figured I’d get married sometime in my mid-twenties and ended up getting married in my mid-thirties instead.

But at the point when I had reached ultimate frustration, once again God provided and placed just the right woman into my life.

For the past several years, I’ve felt like I’m in somewhat of a holding pattern concerning my ministry. And it’s been a bit frustrating.

I still don’t know all that God holds for me. But I’m starting to feel God is moving again, and I know that whatever he has in store for me, it will have been worth the wait.

I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. (Psalm 130:5, NIV)