“Don’t just sit there… Do something. Say something!!”
How many of you had a parent or older sibling say one of those two statements to you?
The art of waiting and putting our hope in God is counter to our American mentality of “make it happen!”
Personally, I find that when I encounter hardship or a problem of some kind I do have a tendency (before I pray or ask God His advice and then wait for Him) to do one of three things:
- Come up with a plan for action
- Jump into action before I have a plan
- Figure out some words that might get me through the situationDo you see the same in yourself?Consider these scenarios:
- You find out that your bank account has been depleted.
- Your boss, who tends to bug you, just sent an email about something he or she thinks you messed up on.
- Your parent makes a comment about you, highlighting that you are not meeting his or her expectation.
While our natural tendency may be to act or speak, thank goodness God does not think in the limited ways we do. He calls us to wait. Check out the words from these two Psalms:
“For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken” (Psalm 62:1,2 ESV)I waited patiently for the LORD;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God” (Psalm 40:1-3 ESV)
Our ability to wait is an indicator of where we are putting our hope and trust!
While we may feel the impulse to act or to speak, trying to deliver ourselves in times of trouble, God says to wait quietly and to wait patiently. Put our hope in Him.