How to courageously wait for God
One of the verses I memorized right after becoming a believer 30-plus years ago was Psalm 27:14:
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.
Though this command has guided me for decades, I've not always obeyed it well.
Andrew Murray, in Waiting on God, encourages us to dig deeper into the verse. He writes:
"One of the chief needs in our waiting upon God, one of the deepest secrets of its blessedness and blessing, is a quiet, confident persuasion that it is not in vain; courage to believe that God will hear and help; that we are waiting on a God who never could disappoint His people."
So, our courage is buoyed by believing deeply that God will in fact help. We may not know when or how he will do it, just that he will.
What are you waiting for? Relief? Provision? Victory? We can wait courageously when we believe we're not waiting in vain, when we know God is trustworthy and in control.
But this kind of patient courage is a battle, isn't it? We struggle one day to see how we can possibly be delivered; the next we feel hopeful and confident.
I go through these ups and downs myself. But Murray helps us push past our weakness:
"Let nothing keep you from waiting on your God in full assurance that it cannot be in vain."
"When we set ourselves to wait on God, we ought beforehand to resolve that it shall be with the most confident expectation of God's meeting and blessing us."
And finally, he gives the simplest marching order possible: "However feeble you feel, just wait in His presence."
There with you,
Tom Harper
Founder, BiblicalLeadership.com
LinkedIn profile | My books
 | Tom Harper is publisher of BiblicalLeadership.com and executive chairman of Networld Media Group, a business-to-business publisher and event producer. He has written five books, including Servant Leader Strong: Uniting Biblical Wisdom and High-Performance Leadership (DeepWater Books, 2019) as well as the Christian business fable Through Colored Glasses and its sequel Inner Threat (DeepWater, 2022). Learn More » |
More on Leadership Devotions
- We’re lumps of clay, so let’s lead like it (by Tom Harper)
- Why, God? Grappling with the mystery of God’s sovereignty (by Tom Harper)
- Discerning God’s sovereign will in your leadership (by Tom Harper)
- Relearning our lessons the hard way (by Tom Harper)
