Rest and Wait

How do we wait? Are we supposed to be smiling and carefree all the time? Should we keep looking at our watches and drumming our fingers?

No, according to this verse, we are to be patient in our waiting and simply rest. That is easier said than done. Picture a small child who huffs and puffs while waiting for his turn with a toy. I fear that we all know some adults who wait that way. Our humility should remind us that anytime we wait on the Lord, there is a reason—it’s no mistake. His timing is never too slow or too fast. He knows the plans He has for us. His ways are not our ways.

We should long to be in step with His timing. The absolute worst place to be is out of step with God, running ahead of His plan. When we fail to wait humbly and choose to foolishly run through roadblocks and blaze our own trail, there will be consequences. Many unhappy marriages, undesirable church situations, and unwise debt result from a lack of waiting with the right attitude.

It is no easy feat for us to rest while we wait. Remember the powerful passage in Isaiah 40:30-31? We are reminded that “Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (esv).

So as we rest in Him, He will renew our strength. Patiently resting is certainly a skill to be prayerfully acquired. Have you considered that others are observing how well or perhaps how poorly you are mastering this skill? Your confident resolve to be transformed while waiting patiently for the Lord can speak volumes to those who need to learn this vital aspect of the Christian walk. Conversely, your impatient anxiousness will serve to confuse and discourage those who look to you as one for whom “iron sharpens iron,” as Proverbs 27:17 teaches. This is yet another reason to wait patiently and rest in the Lord.

He will answer. When? At just the right time. That’s all we need to know.

Father, convict me to wait well for all the right reasons. Amen.