“Wait for and confidently expect the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for and confidently expect the LORD.”
Psalm 27:14 AMP
I don’t know about you, but waiting is not on my top 10 list of favourite things. Recently I’ve taken up making sourdough bread and although I’m still a rookie, one thing I’ve realized is that the process can take a lot of waiting. I won’t bore you with all the details but almost every step includes some form of waiting. You need to wait for your starter to ferment, wait for the starter to activate, wait for the bread to rise, wait while the dough sits in the fridge, wait for the bread to bake, and sometimes wait for it to cool before eating! It can be quite a process and many people use different methods but one thing I’ve realized is you cannot rush or substitute one key component: time. Sure, there are different tricks and methods you can utilize to help the process along, but I’ve discovered the hard way that often when I try to rush the process of making sourdough or hurry it up, it ends up being a flop.
It can be hard to wait for the little things in life but maybe you’ve found yourself waiting for ‘bigger’ things. Waiting for direction on what’s next, waiting for the pay check to come through, waiting for your career to take off, waiting for restoration in broken relationships, waiting for the medical test results to come back, waiting for that special someone to come into your life, waiting and hoping for that baby your heart longs for…we wait.
But in Psalm 27:14, David reminds us of who we should be waiting for. “Wait for the LORD; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the LORD.”
My friend, I write this with all gentleness and kindness, sharing from a heart that has wept in the waiting…we’re not meant to put our hope in waiting for our circumstances to change. It can often be easy to give into the mindset of ‘once this happens then…(fill in the blank)’. Once I have this…then I’ll be happy. Once this season is over…then I’ll have peace. Once I have this…then I’ll feel satisfied and fulfilled. We are to wait solely on the Lord alone. This type of waiting that we see in Psalm 27 is not a wishful or aimless sort of waiting. We can confidently and expectantly wait on the Lord, not because it will guarantee that our circumstances will change, but because no matter what, He will not change. His character is true and His love is steadfast.
The story He is writing for you and I might not make sense in our limited human understanding, but we can trust that He sees the bigger picture and that His love for us goes beyond what we can imagine. The waiting is never wasted time but rather, purposeful and intentional in our Heavenly Father’s eyes. In my own life, I have found that He has used these difficult waiting periods to draw me even closer to Himself. He has often used challenging seasons to soften the calloused parts of my heart. Not out of malicious intent, but out of love so that I might become more and more like Him. A process of transformation and sanctification that usually takes…you guessed it…time.
So if you’re in a season of waiting I want to encourage you to let your heart take courage. Wait on the Lord, for we know that when we put our Hope in Him, He will not disappoint. Does that mean we’re guaranteed to receive the ‘thing’ we’re waiting for? No, it doesn’t. But when we wait on Him, we will receive abundantly more than we could ever ask, image, hope, or dream of. For in Him is True Satisfaction, Peace, Love, Joy, and Life itself. Therefore, even though we wait, we can give thanks for His presence.
So today, in this moment, right where you are, let me pose a simple question…
What are you waiting for?
By: Sarah Janzen
