Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord! (Psalm 27:14, NKJV)

The Challenge With Waiting

In general, waiting is not a strength of most humans. That’s why parents spend a lot of time teaching their children, of all ages, how to be patient. As kids, we’re told we have to wait until after dinner to have dessert. As teens, we’re told we have to wait until a certain age before dating or driving. And, in all fairness, many of us spend our adult years learning more and more how to wait and be patient. 

But it’s hard! 

Especially when you know what God has spoken to you. Especially once you’ve gained the experience or skills to move to the next level. Especially now that your confidence has increased and you’re ret to go! 

So here you are. You’ve heard from God. You’ve done your work. You have the vision. You’ve put your time in. And you’re ready! 

But God says wait. 

How do we hold ourselves back in this waiting period when it’s so hard and doesn’t seem necessary? How do we reconcile being in the same place what feels like years with little forward movement? What makes waiting so necessary in our lived experiences?

The Promise With Waiting

We get answers to these questions and more from Psalm 27:14. This psalm is one of fearless trust in God. That let’s us know that when we are courageous and bold enough to wait, we are actually fearlessly trusting in God. We are expressing the strength of our faith. We’re going against our human inclination of now, now, now, to being open to God’s instruction, timing, and priorities. 

Waiting both requires and gives strength and courage. 

The Hebrew word for wait, qavah, gives the idea of twisting or binding strands into a cord or rope. That’s what it can feel like when we’re waiting on the Lord. Internally, we may feel like we are all twisted, bound up, stretched, and full of tension. 

Waiting is a sacred act of faithful expectation. 

It becomes sacred when we faithfully and patiently look for, tarry, hope in, and wait on the Lord. It is when we say to Him, “I am willing to endure this tension, this twisting, this binding, and this stretching, until you give me release based on your instruction, timing, and priorities.” 

And that is how we grow stronger by waiting. The more we lean into waiting on and hoping in the Lord, it becomes an ever-strengthening rope. And this empowers us with greater strength, trust, and faith. 

Psalm 27:14 starts with “Wait (or wait for) the Lord”. Here are some promises that come from waiting on the Lord: 

• We won’t be ashamed in our waiting - Psalm 25:3 
• We will be exalted (over our circumstances, enemies, and tribulations) Psalm 37:34 
• The Lord will incline Himself to us and hear our cry - Psalm 40:1 
• We’ll gain hope from Him - Psalm 62:5; 130:5 
• Renewal occurs when we wait - Isa 40:31 
• In the waiting period we are healed, delivered, and prepared.

Let's wait on the Lord with courage and strength.

Weekly Power Shifts

Questions for reflection and prayer:

• What is your current attitude toward waiting? Are you hopefully enduring or screaming in frustration?
• How can you lean more into waiting being a sacred act of faithful expectation?
• Where in your life do you need to qavah? And what changes do you need to make to be there?

Set action steps:

Don’t just answer the questions, set some intentional action steps. Since waiting is a verb and we must do it actively!