The Maturity to Wait for the Lord

Wait for the Lord;

be strong and take heart,

and wait for the Lord.

(Psalm 27: 14)

Great expectations and hopes. That could be the summary of the first two weeks of this new year. While many have expectations and hopes, an equal amount of people do not want to expect and hope. They just want to see how things go. Probably, the lessons of the past few years, especially the pandemic and the global issues that followed, have had an effect on every single family in this world. Many people have kept away from planning and deciding for themselves. Some have withdrawn from drafting annual agendas and have begun to just go with the flow and see where and how everyday life events lead them. Are more people learning to depend on the Lord and to wait for Him?

As this new year began, I prayed to God, saying I had nothing to specifically ask from Him. I asked the Lord to lead me "one day at a time" and gave all the plans, dates, projects, achievements, challenges, decisions, travels, duties and ministries into His mighty hands. I said, "Lord, I am giving you an empty basket at the beginning of this new year. Fill it with the fruits that you want to give me this year." It is, maybe, a conscious decision that we all have to wait for the Lord. To wait and see what He has in store for each one of us. 

As all of us (some of you, much and much more than me) know from our years of experiences and lessons know that waiting is not easy. It takes courage. It demands a strong mind. And it needs a conscious heart that will remind us time and again that we are not just waiting, but waiting for the Lord! This is what the Bible verse we have chosen for today, Psalm 27: 14, also reminds us of. It reminds us to wait for the Lord, to be strong while we wait, and to take courage. 

Even though we have heard many believers saying, "I am waiting for the Lord," seldom does it express their spiritual maturity. Rather, it becomes their anchor of excuse, which they hold on to while they wait for things to happen. Therefore, what can be the spiritual maturity of waiting for the Lord? I came across Charles Spurgeon's note on 'waiting for the Lord.' It said, 

“Wait at his door with prayer; 

wait at his foot with humility; 

wait at his table with service; 

wait at his window with expectancy.” 

I thought I had found my answers when I came across this note. Spurgeon's note not only summarises the entire idea of waiting for the Lord but also prompts us to be people of spiritual maturity when we wait for the Lord. Therefore, waiting for the Lord is not merely surrendering and submitting everything into His hands and waiting for the Lord to come and do things for you. 

Firstly, Waiting for the Lord with spiritual maturity is to be praying without ceasing. Conversing with the Lord about things that take place in your life and in others for whom you are ceaselessly praying. It is our way of expressing our continued trust in the Lord. We have to wait at his door with prayer. 

Secondly, it is to be at the Lord's feet with humility. Leaving away all our confidence and assurances in our own strengths, we are called to wait for the Lord with expression of our unworthiness. It is a way of admitting that only the Lord is able to give us what we are waiting for. No backup plans, no alternatives and no defence mechanisms. With heart and mind that fall prostrate at the Lord's feet, we must wait for the Lord. 

Thirdly, waiting for the Lord should also be a time of service. It is not about, "If the Lord blesses me with this, I will do this. If He gives this to me, I will do that." No! It is about serving while you wait. We have to be His disciples who, as we wait, continue to serve at His table. Nothing should stop us from faithfully and joyfully serving the Lord while we wait for Him to do things in our lives. 

And finally, we must wait with expectancy. It is not the same as expectations. Expectations are those we impose on those dear to us, but expectancy is about accepting. Something that appealed to me when I tried to understand this difference from a Biblical perspective was an explanation by Laurie Coombs. She has written, "Expectation says, “God, I expect you will do this/that.” It says, “God, I expect you to do this/that in a certain way.” Expectancy says, “Lord, I don't know how or what you will do, but I know you will do something, and I know it will be good.” 

In this new year, I pray that all of us will wait for the Lord while expressing solid spiritual maturity within us. Let our waiting be a time of praying, acts of humility, a season of serving and a phase of expectancy. Let us not be believers who suffer and endure agony while waiting for the Lord. It is good to wait for the Lord and let this be a time of spiritual maturity and growing faith in the Lord. 

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us, now and forever more. Amen.

May God bless you. 

Yours in Christ,

Ebenezer Veerasingam

🎶

"My Soul Will Wait"

by

Sovereign Grace Music