How have you felt when you have had to wait a long time in a waiting room to see a busy doctor? What was your tolerance level like when you had to wait in a long line at a pharmacy, or when you were stuck in a traffic jam? Such times test our patience because we know we ourselves are not in control.
Our Heavenly Father knows our every need. He hears our prayer requests, but he also knows that waiting time makes us stronger and teaches us valuable lessons like patience, trust, and dependence upon His perfect time to bring about His plans and purposes for our lives.
King David wrote Psalm 27 during a season of great trouble and difficulties. Yet when he cried out to God in prayer, he penned these words -> “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart. Wait for the LORD.” The New King James version says it like this -> “Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!” [Psalm 27:14]
We need to wait on the Lord in confident, trustful prayers but we also need to wait for God to act on our behalf according to His will for us. We often get tired of waiting and feel a sense of hopelessness when our prayers are not answered, or we find ourselves in extreme hardships, especially during this covid 19 pandemic. Many people are uncertain, troubled, ill, lonely, or unsettled in themselves. Have courage! Our God who sees ALL things, sees you and knows your pain and sufferings. He loves you. He will not forsake you!
Micah 7:7 states -> “…as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Saviour; my God will hear me.”
If you are exhausted and need additional strength, Isaiah 40:29 – 31 assures us that God “gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall. 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.” Some versions use the words “trust” or “hope” instead of “wait.”
So dear friend, take courage and hope, trusting in our Lord God who says to you in Matthew 10:29-31, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.”
Myrtle Grimm-Turunen