Be still in the presence of the LORD,
and wait patiently for him to act.
Psalm 37:7 (NLT)
I seem to require frequent refresher courses in patience. This classroom has no walls, no ceiling because this course isn’t taught in a physical space. It’s a lesson that needs to be learned over and over again in the classroom of everyday life. I thought I’d completed the course, even wrote an essay on patience. But somehow I keep coming back to square one – in my daily life, my emotional life, and my spiritual life.
I wonder about God’s timing, His purpose, His plan. I ponder His ‘slowness’ to act. I consider those ‘unanswered’ prayers. I put unanswered in brackets because that’s how it appears to my human mind. Yet even though it seems God has forgotten about my prayers, nothing is further from the truth. God hears every single word, He knows every thought, and He takes notice of every tear. He sees my shattered dreams, my broken heart, and my disappointments. He knows my deepest longings.
God bids me ‘be still’ and wait patiently. And while I wait, He’s hard at work, shifting everything into its rightful place according to His perfect plan. Which requires me to be still, trusting He has heard my pleas and will act in His time and according to His will. My timing is not the same as His. But that’s okay because His plans are immeasurably better than anything I could ask or imagine. While I’m focusing on the here and now, He’s focusing on eternity.
Thought: “I do know that waiting on God requires the willingness to bear uncertainty, to carry within oneself the unanswered question, lifting the heart to God about it whenever it intrudes upon one’s thoughts. It’s easy to talk oneself into a decision that has no permanence – easier sometimes than to wait patiently.” – Elisabeth Elliot
For further reading:
- Ephesians 3:20
- Psalm 27:14
- Psalm 62:5
- Psalm 46:10
Excerpt from my devotional, A Year in God’s Classroom