The Hope of Waiting

“Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.”
– Palms 27:14 (NLT)

I find the hardest things in life are “waiting.” It truly is one of the hardest things for me to do, that is… to “wait.” Oh, I hate waiting. Ask my wife Christina, she’ll tell you. Especially when it comes to restaurants. We finally decide where to dine out and when we finally get to our destination, there it is… the dreaded line and, we wait. But, not me… I see the line and I run.

How many of us run when it comes to waiting?

Waiting is a big part of God’s WORD.
I can count at least 33 Scriptures on waiting and they are probably many more, but let’s read together one. Let’s turn to Palms 27, where we’ll find David amongst great turmoil.

Ps 27:14 (NLT), “Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.”

Here, we find that the author David wrote the Scripture twice. Why do you think that was? “Wait patiently for the Lord.” Did you know that, when writing in the Hebrew language, in order to empathize something, such as in the English language, we can make things bold, italicize it, underline it, or even put an exclamation point after the sentence to make it stand out. Yet, in the Hebrew language, they’ll write the words twice, in order to show us, the reader that this is a very important point and we should really pay attention to it. We find, in Ps 27, David, the author, was showing us that amongst his many trials, tribulations, all his struggles that was going on around him, no matter what happened, he still will, “wait patiently for the Lord…” to, what? What do you think David was waiting patiently for the Lord to do? Come on Church, what do you think it was? “To answer.”

Let’s turn to Ps 32:1 and let’s read together to verses 1 through 7. “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty! When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time, that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment. For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory.

A friend of mine told me about this amazing man of God, born without legs and arms and this friend shared a video of his testimony. I was amazed at how, this young man has made it through his life so far, with hope, faith and love and has not given up. I want to share some words out of his book with you, but before I do, I want you to do something. Let everyone take a moment, quiet yourself down. Now, I want you to imagine yourself without arms and legs. Again, quietly now, think to yourself the struggles you would face, the day to day challenges. Here is his words, “I have discovered time and again, that when we ask for God’s help and then take action, knowing in our hearts that He is watching over us, there is no reason to be fearful. My parents taught me this, mostly in the way they lived each day. Like all babies, I did not come with an instruction book… They were distraught at first, as any parents would be. My parents could not imagine what plan God had in mind for such a boy. Yet, once they’d recovered from their initial shock, they decided to put their trust in God and then to put their faith in action. They gave up their attempts to understand why God had given them such a child. Instead, they surrendered to His plan, whatever it might be.” This amazing book is called, “Unstoppable” by Nick Vujcic, and this excerpt can be found on pages 12-13

“So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord!” Ps 31:24 (NLT)

The Message version says it like this, “Be brave. Be strong. Don’t give up. Expect God to get here soon.”

The definition of Hope is, “A feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.”

What are you expecting? What are you desiring to happen? Who here has found there Scripture in the Bible about the promise they are standing on? Come on now, be honest. If you have yet to find something that you are going to hold on to, I strongly urge you to do so fast because, the world is passing away and all who are in it. Remember, we are not of this world because we are rooted in the Kingdom of Heaven once we took that step of faith, trust and love; allowing Jesus Christ into our lives, as our Lord and Savior.

The fact is… waiting is a big part of God’s plan for us. And, that’s what I believe Paul was trying to say when we read Romans 5:4-5, “And not only so, but let us have joy in our troubles: in the knowledge that trouble gives us the power of waiting. And waiting gives experience; and experience, hope: and hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

As we go today, let’s remember to wait patiently on the Lord and He’ll get you through whatever you are going through. And all the people said, AMEN!

God Bless,

Brother Jonathan

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Do you have something on your mind and need a prayer? Then, please write me now and tell me about it. I am here for you!
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