Four Things To Look For While You Wait
“I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what He has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord.” – Psalm 40:1-3
All right, let’s talk about waiting. Don’t you love it?
I’m kidding. We humans usually despise the act of waiting; Waiting for our favorite TV show to release a new episode, waiting for a party or a celebration, waiting for that breakthrough we’ve been praying for. No matter what it is we want or need, waiting for it can be excruciating.
We may hate waiting, but Psalm 40 talks about this subject and its benefits in a refreshing way. This passage of Scripture shines a huge light on David and what happened when he waited on the Lord. If we look at the first three verses, we can find four huge benefits that he obtained because he waited on God:
1. God brought him out of his despair: “He lifted me out of the slimy pit.” (verse 2).
2. God set his feet on solid ground: “He gave me a firm place to stand” (verse 2).
3. God “steadied” him as he walked along (verse 2).
4. God put a new song of praise in his mouth: “He has given me a new song to sing,
a hymn of praise to our God” (verse 3).
Those are four huge benefits God gave David while he waited faithfully and patiently. The good news? These things are available to us too when we choose to wait well as David did.
So many times in life blessings cannot be received unless we go through a time of waiting. God answers prayers in three distinctly different ways: He says “no, not yet,” “yes,” or “no, I love you too much.” God does not make us wait to be cruel. He makes us wait so we grow closer to Him and learn to rely on Him in the waiting. When our waiting period is over and God opens a door, we will be even more grateful for that blessing and see the patience that He grew in us through the process.
Moral of the story…patience. It rarely feels good, but it’s always beneficial.
