WAITING IN HOPE

“I WAIT for the Lord, my soul waits, and IN HIS WORD I do HOPE” – Psalm 130: 5

God releases great virtues, value, and help to the soul that is WAITING IN HOPE: “I WAIT for the Lord, my soul waits, and IN HIS WORD I do HOPE. My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning – Yes, more than those who watch for the morning” (Psa. 130: 5-6). To wait in Hope is to wait for the Lord, to hope in His Word, and watch for His timings. Here, the psalmist was comparing waiting expectantly on the Lord to the night guards of the city who watched the passage of time in anticipation of the coming dawn when they would be released from duty. The coming of the dawn was certain, but not without the passage of time. God wants us to learn to wait on Him – in Hope, to receive His Help perpetually!

Most people hate to wait. Waiting does not come naturally to human beings. We’re often impatient when the receptionist puts us on hold. We’re stressed when road construction or traffic congestion causes some delay. Anxiety rises when appointments are postponed. Waiting can be irritating, deflating, and excruciating. But in spite of that, the Bible says waiting is essential. Believers must learn to wait in hope: “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (Psa.27:4). Scriptures recurrently refer to those who had to wait on and for the Lord.

David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, and many other Bible Faithfuls, learnt to wait on the Lord:

“I WAITED PATIENTLY for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry” (Psa.40:1).

“And I WILL WAIT for the Lord who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will even look eagerly for Him” (Isa.8:17).

“It is good that one should HOPE and WAIT QUIETLY for the salvation of the LORD” (Lam.3:26).

“But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me” (Mic.7:7).

Since waiting doesn’t come naturally, it will have to be learned. Paul learnt contentment: “…Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need” (Phi. 4:12b). Waiting in Hope is in the same category; and one of the ways God teaches us to wait is by giving us many chances to practice. He sovereignly and wisely orchestrates events in life to provide us with opportunities to wait on Him. Waiting on God is more than just impatiently watching the clock slowly tick, or easing our emotional engines when we are stuck in circumstantial traffic.

Waiting on God is intricately related to Trust and Hope. Waiting includes the concept of HOPE. Waiting and hoping are wound together like the strands of a rope. When we, like the city’s guards, wait for the morning, we are not just waiting for time to pass. We are waiting for the sun to rise and day to break, for the light to replace the darkness, and the cold to recede before the warmth of the sun. We are waiting eagerly for the Lord’s answers to human needs as the sun brings warmth.

Waiting is basically wrapped up with knowing, trusting, and believing in the Lord – His character, His Person, and His promises. Waiting involves an expectation of something special: an anticipation, expectation, or confident hope in something that will occur. The ability to wait on the Lord stems from being confident and focused on who God is and in what God is doing. It means confidence in God’s Person: trusting in His wisdom, love, timing, and understanding of our situation and that of the world. It means knowing and trusting in God’s principles, promises, purposes, and power. As the watchman waits for the sun knowing that it is reliable, so we wait for the Lord even more, knowing He is more reliable than the rising of the sun.