There is a common phrase that says:
“Good things come to those who wait.”
There is definitely some truth to that. However, as a quote coming from man, that isn’t always true. Sometimes, people wait for things only to be very disappointed.
Nonetheless, waiting does have some blessings.
The idea of waiting, waiting on the Lord, is very Biblical. There are many verses in the Bible about that. These are just a few:
“Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart:
wait, I say, on the LORD.”
Psalm 27:14
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“Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.”
Psalm 37:34
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“And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
Isaiah 25:9
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“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Isaiah 40:31
Waiting is not always an easy thing to do. We like immediate answers, direction, intervention, and results. And there are times when that is needed. God delights to answer the prayers of His people.
However, there are times when God asks us to wait on Him like the Psalmist and other Bible writers wrote about.
What does it mean to wait on God?
I believe it means to trust Him, to follow Him, to depend on Him, to obey Him, and to put our expectation in Him, even when it may be difficult to do so because of difficult circumstances.
God rewards those who wait on Him. To me, that is what Psalm 37 is all about - waiting on God even when it may be hard. You see the Psalmist write that phrase over and over again in that Psalm. The end result? Those who wait on God, even when it is difficult, are rewarded by God.
I remember a Godly, Christian woman I knew (who passed away from cancer 15 years ago) sharing something once about waiting on God.
She mentioned that, waiting on God, strengthens someone, like making a strong rope. I confess that I have no idea how strong ropes are made, but I imagine there is an intertwining of threads that happens that makes some ropes very strong.
Perhaps waiting on God, trusting and following Him, even when we cannot understand what He is doing, causes us to become stronger like a rope?
Perhaps the threads of our heart become more closely intertwined with God as we wait and depend on Him?
I’ve never forgotten what that friend shared, over 20 years ago now, in reference to Psalm 27:14:
“Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart:
wait, I say, on the LORD.”
Psalm 27:14
According to this verse, waiting on God does strengthen our heart in Him.
Perhaps the strengthening comes through God’s fulfillment or reward for waiting on Him?
This weekend, I read several chapters in the book of Genesis. To be specific, I read Genesis 12-17 about Abraham being called by God to go forth. When God told him to do something, Abraham chose to obey God. And Abraham was abundantly blessed for doing so! After leaving his homeland, Abraham was given some amazing promises from God, covenants with God.
God promised Abraham land as well as a son - with numerous offspring coming through that son! Abraham and his wife, Sarah, had no children of their own. God promised Abraham a son when he was 75 years old. Abraham believed God.
After 10 years of waiting on God for that promised son, still, nothing had happened. Abraham was now 85 years old. While waiting on God, Abraham told his wife Sarah about this promised son.
Sarah’s idea? Since nothing was happening, maybe God expected Abraham to do something about it? You know, “make it happen” on his own?
If you are familiar with this Bible story, you know how the rest of the story goes. Things didn’t go so well. Abraham did have a son of his own, but it was not the son God promised him. Abraham had a son with their handmaiden, Hagar.
In essence, Abraham listened to his wife Sarah without asking God if that was what God wanted him to do. Like Adam and Eve, this story shows me the profound effect women (especially wives) have on men.
Sadly, Abraham didn’t wait on God in this part of the story. He took matters into His own hands without checking with God first.
In God’s appointed time, Abraham had the son God promised him through his wife, Sarah, when they were 90 and 100 years old. They had baby Isaac - what a miracle! God made that happen at the right time, in His time.
From the time that God promised Abraham that he would have a son, until it actually happened, Abraham waited on God for 25 years.
Abraham waited a long time to see the fulfillment of a promise from God.
In reading parts of this story this weekend, I saw several things.
When God told Abraham to “go forth”, he went. When God tells us to do something, it is important to obey.
When God asks us to wait on Him, it is important to wait until we get a clear answer from Him, rather than “take matters into our own hands” like Abraham did when he had a son with Hagar.
God makes things clear when we walk with Him. I see those things clearly in the story of Abraham.
I also read Isaiah chapter 40 this weekend which talks about waiting on God.
“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Isaiah 40:31
If our heart is fixed on God, God will strengthen our heart in Him in difficult times.
I tend to like illustrations that help me visualize things, and recently, God gave me one about waiting on Him that totally amazed me - and in a very personal way.
Because I am a harpist, I am drawn to harps of all shapes and sizes. I’ve owned many over the years.
When one of my harps was delivered to me years ago (a harp I no longer have), I noticed something about it right away. The soundboard was a little different than my previous harps. The wood grain in the soundboard was horizontal (side to side) rather than vertical (up and down) like some of my other harps.
Because I owned several harps, I noticed it, and I really liked it. Most harps are built that way, with the wood grain in the soundboard being horizontal rather than vertical. I was delighted to have a harp built that way without even requesting it.
Three years ago, when I received my new large harp, a Marini Made, 40 string, Roma Bella Harp, I was thrilled to see that my harp had been built with the wood grain of the soundboard being horizontal rather than vertical!
Many years ago, the harp maker built his harps with the wood grain going vertical in the soundboard. Sound wise, it makes no difference. But visually, I like the other way better!
Last year I contacted the harp maker about a possible harp (Regency) in the future. I also asked him about the soundboard and told him, in an email, how much I liked his new way better - the horizontal wood grain in the soundboard.
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| My 40 string Marini Made “Roma Bella” Harp |
Last month, while thinking about waiting on the Lord, something hit me in a way I hadn’t thought of before.
Years ago, when the harp maker first came out with his new Roma Bella design, I wanted to purchase one. But I didn’t back then because I had so many harps already. I didn’t need another harp. This was back around the year of 2007.
When the time seemed right, I decided to sell my older harps so I could finally purchase this beautiful 40 string Roma Bella harp I wanted. I purchased that harp three years ago in 2021.
It was so worth the wait!
In this case, the quote I shared above is true:
Good things come to those who wait.
Like waiting many years to purchase my “Bella” harp with its now “significantly stronger” soundboard, when we wait on God, He makes our hearts “significantly stronger” in Him.
And when we wait on God, it is a guaranteed promise from Him that good things will come from Him. (Lamentations 3:25)
“Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart:
wait, I say, on the LORD.”
Psalm 27:14
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