Morning Devotions

Bible Reading:

Psalms 27:14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Waiting is never easy. It goes against our natures. Men are especially tried at this point because we are wired to "fix it." We want to do something about our situation, not simply "wait on the Lord."

I remember a situation I had when I was in the Army as an Environmental Science Officer. I was working in the Joint Task Force Headquarters at Ft. Bragg, NC during the Haiti crisis of 1995. On one particularly difficult day, as the 82nd Airborne Division was ramping up for a parachute assault on Haiti's Port Au Prince airport, the Medical Ops Officer was particularly frustrated with things on his end. Nothing was going right, and he felt he had to fix it. There were also some things on the Environmental side of the operation that wasn't "just right" either - but good people were dealing with the issue who had far more clout, access to the resources, and wherewithal to handle things. I was therefore relaxed. That only gave Major "B" a reason to be "fit to be tied." He chewed me out as "one who watched things happen" while he thought himself to be one who "made things happen." I was trusting the Lord to work things out while Major "B" was trusting himself. In the end, it all worked, and the issues that gave Major "B" so much stress were gone. I tried to point out, lovingly, how much easier it is when God carries the burdens, and not ourselves.

I understand the impulsive, compulsive way in which sometimes we will do anything to hurry God's actions, rushing forward when God says "wait." We put ourselves on OUR deadline schedules instead of living by God's. We sometimes run away when what God is telling us to wait about is fearful. We are to wait when our whole body screams "Do something!"

Waiting quietly, patiently, and with unswerving trust in the Lord is an honor to Him. Conversely, impulsively taking things into our own hands is an insult to Him. Jesus' own example was "not my will but Thine be done" as He went to the cross to redeem all of mankind. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego waited all the way into the furnace - and walked out without a lick of soot on their bodies and their clothes still smelled fresh, not smoky.

So, dear friend, whatever you have to face today, do so having brought it before the Lord, and then wait for His help. When He says do something, go ahead. Until then, wait. The Lord will both strengthen your heart, and your situation in His perfect time.

Bro. Greg