Wait And Wait Again

Psalm 40:1 (NIV)—

‘I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he turned to me and heard my cry.’

I was famously a very impatient child. Never very good at waiting for things, especially when the length of waiting was unspecified. This was made glaringly obvious on the annual trip to my grandparents’ house. Somerset to Manchester. 4 hours, which felt like an eternity in the mind of a 5-year-old. Fed up with hearing an indefinite (and quite frankly false) ‘not long’ when repeatedly asking 'how long', I decided to come up with a more effective question – ‘how many junctions left?’. Satisfied with the clear count down, the waiting came that bit easier.

Waiting on God, for him to move, speak, provide, can be the hardest and longest wait of all. We don’t often get a countdown, or even a ‘not long’ to make the wait more bearable. A wait like that can be incredibly tiresome.

Take a moment to ask yourself, where are you waiting on the Lord? Where are you crying out for him to come and move? Where do you feel wearied from the wait?

Instead of becoming wearied and giving up, the psalmist waits patiently for the Lord. The Hebrew more accurately translates to `Waiting, I waited for the Lord’. This wait is active, a wait that requires everything: mind body and soul directed towards God, in faith that he will come.

I want to encourage you in this moment to press into the wait. Actively wait upon the lord, direct your heart and mind to him. Wait and wait again. Because waiting on the Lord is always worth it.

‘He turned to me and heard my cry’.

God hears us in our waiting. He turns his face towards us and draws near. Be comforted today that those who wait on the Lord will always be rewarded with his presence. He always comes to those who seek him.

PRAYER – God, I choose to wait for you today. I fix my mind and heart on you, trusting that you are always faithful. Turn your face towards me I pray.