The Discipline Of Waiting

Wait for the LORD;

be strong, and let your heart take courage;

wait for the LORD!

(Psalm 27:14)

Years ago I read an article entitled, “Absent Parents, Troubled Children.”  The title alone was worth my time and attention.  My purpose here is not to review that study, but to present one of the author’s findings: When fathers are absent from the home, their children suffer immediate and long-term consequences.  Boys, in particular, demonstrate stunted character development.  Topping the list is the inability to reject immediate gratification in favor of a reward at some future date.

In other words, children (especially boys) who do not have fathers to guide and shape their moral development never truly grow up.  This is all too evident in our culture as single-parent families have become the rule, rather than the exception.  But in my experience, it is not just fathers who are absent physically that leave a void.  What may be even more common are the dads who come home every night, but are emotionally absent from the lives of their children.

Is it any wonder, then, that we have difficulty relating to God as our Father?  Or that Christians so often make spiritual judgments based upon their feelings, rather than the Truth of God’s Word?  Am I painting on your canvas here?  Does this describe your past or current relationship to God?  If so, know that you are not alone!  And, know that your current reality does not have to dictate your future.

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:11)

Here is an aspect of the hope of our calling (see Ephesians 1:16-23) that is truly cause for rejoicing—God takes us as we are, but He doesn’t leave us as we are!  We do not have an absent Father and even though we may be troubled children, He cares enough to train us up according to His righteousness.  God does not give up on His children and He is never, ever emotionally distant from us.  To the contrary, God’s silences are crowded with expressions of His love and care.  But we cannot receive these expressions unless we develop a listening ear (see Psalm 40:6).

This is where the courage to wait comes into play.  The ability to wait is an acquired discipline that implies a continuing state of rest and trust.  If I say that I am waiting for something that I am believing God for—something that He alone can do—and all the while I am worrying and pacing restlessly to and fro, then I am not waiting.  If anything I demonstrating my inability to wait.

Waiting takes strength of character.  Waiting takes courage.  Waiting is hard!!! That is why David exhorts his readers to wait, to be strong, to take courage.  Waiting is not a game and it certainly is not for the timid.  It takes spiritual maturity and a single-minded commitment to pursue God’s purposes that allows the saints to persevere when the answers to our prayers have not arrived within our projected time frame.  Waiting requires that we be fully engaged spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.

“To wait is not merely to remain impassive.  It is to expect—to look for with patience, and also with submission.  It is to long for, but not impatiently; to look for, but not to fret at the delay; to watch for, but not restlessly; to feel that if he does not come, we will acquiesce, and yet to refuse to let the mind acquiesce in the feeling that he will not come” (Dr. A. B. Davidson, quoted in David McIntyre, The Hidden Life of Prayer, p. 31).

David was not merely waxing poetic when he penned this psalm; he was speaking out of his vast experience of knowing God, of waiting upon God, of hearing God through His silences.  He knew where his courage originated.  I pray that you, too, will know the source of your courage, and that as you wait for the Lord you will be encouraged to …be strong, and let your heart take courage….

The LORD is my light and my salvation;

whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the stronghold of my life;

of whom shall I be afraid?

(Psalm 27:1 ESV)

Soli Deo Gloria!