READ: Psalm 27:14 NLT
'Wait for the Lord. Be strong. Let your heart be strong. Yes, wait for the Lord.'
Our society has been especially designed to exclude waiting. The advertising industry seeks to persuade us that everything can be obtained instantly: instant credit, instant satisfaction, instant rewards. One of the first credit cards had as its slogan, “Taking the waiting out of wanting” and that’s not a bad summary of how our society works.
The psalmist had an altogether different approach. For him, waiting was something good and he encourages his fellow worshippers to wait for the Lord. The truth, of course, is that the most valuable things in life require waiting – and often a great deal of it. There is no way in which you can instantly acquire maturity, a godly character or a strong and trusting relationship. They require years of patient, thoughtful, prayerful development.
At times it looks as if God takes a long time to get round to answering our prayers. He doesn’t conform to the requirements of our instant society and that can be extremely frustrating. Surely, if he is omnipotent he should be able to respond with speed and efficiency to our requests. He sometimes keeps us waiting for years. Why does he do this? Above all it is because he loves us and he knows that it is only as we slowly build up a trusting relationship with him that we will ever really grow up in our Christian maturity.
This is a hard word for our modern world. It isn’t what people want to hear. They want blessings today, and miracles to order. But God wants followers who will trust him whatever happens. He wants us to be people who have built up a strong, resilient relationship with him that will be able to stand up to any challenge, discouragement or disappointment.
This is yet another illustration of the upside down nature of the Kingdom of God. God loves us so much that he wants to rewire our thinking and help us to see that waiting is the surest way possible of helping us to grow.
QUESTION: Are you good at waiting for the Lord? If not, how are you going to learn to develop this skill?
PRAYER: Lord help me to learn to wait on you. Forgive my impatience and help me to learn the blessing of waiting. Amen.

Released on 22 Oct 2020