Waiting on the Lord
Part of learning to care for a person with a chronic illness is waiting on the Lord God. We live in an era when the rule is to do something or to get something NOW. We see this in the emails we receive and on the blogs we read where they have a “call to action.” Some even have a call to action button for us to click. On television commercials and online video advertisements we hear the sales pitch ending with the words, “Call now.”
Home pregnancy tests allow for instant results. We send a text message expecting an immediate response.
When we have a medical scan, biopsy, or blood work and must wait for days to find out the test’s verdict we can become frustrated and impatient. We want it all, and we want it now.
Today’s Bible verse reminds us there are times when we need to wait.
My Story
My mother called me when I was in 1984 telling me the doctor said she had kidney disease and would eventually need a kidney transplant. She was fifty-one years old.
She explained how she needed to follow diet and exercise to extend the length of time before she would need the kidney. Religiously describes how she followed the doctor’s orders.
Despite her best effort in 2004, she went on the kidney transplant waiting list. Her efforts had bought her twenty years.
In March of 2011, she finally had the transplant. She was now 79 years old. When first on the transplant list there were over seven-hundred people ahead of her on the waiting list. The wait was difficult. Her health diminished. She was within weeks of death when the death of another gave her the gift of life.
Mother lived almost four years after receiving her transplant. Cancer, not kidney disease took her life.
I remember praying with her in the days before she finally received the transplant. She had said if I am supposed to get a kidney, I’ll get a kidney. It’s all in God’s hands and timing. I can trust and wait on God.
Bible Verse
Psalm 27:14 (KJV), “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.”
What the Verse Means
We live in a world of instant gratification. When we read of waiting and patience, it is hard to picture them as virtues. In the twenty-first century, we find waiting unacceptable.
The Lord commands you through this verse to wait upon him. There is value in waiting. Waiting has you obedient to God’s teaching. It allows you to have a better strength of soul, and a larger capacity to thoroughly appreciate the Lord.
We need to remember that waiting and surrendering to God helps you have peace of mind and soul as well as strengthens your heart. The command is more than to wait. It is to abandon all your desires to the Lord.
It is also important to remember we are not waiting just for things or test results. We are waiting for God. This waiting shows our trust in God.
The Bible is full of verses that remind us to wait on the Lord. Examples from the Book of Psalm’s are:
Psalm 27:14 (KJV), “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.”
Psalm 25:3 (KJV), “Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.”
Psalm 25:5 (KJV), “Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.”
Psalm 62:5 (KJV), “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.
Psalm 69:3 (KJV), “I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.”
Pray Using Scripture
- Heavenly Father help me to wait on the Lord.
- Lord, help me to be of good courage.
- Thank you for the promise that the Lord will strengthen my heart.
- Heavenly Father help me to realize I am more than waiting for a cure, for test results, or resolution of a medical billing issue. Help me know I am waiting on God.
Responding to God’s Hope
- Is there something you’re waiting on? Turn it over to God and trust his timing.
- Waiting is hard. Why not ask God to strengthen your heart as you wait? That’s something today’s verse encourages us to do.
- Ask God to help you to wait on the Lord. We don’t know why we wait, but God does. His timing is perfect. Trust God.
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This blog post is adapted from the forthcoming book, “Caregiving: A Biblical Alternative” by Jimmie Aaron Kepler, Ed.D.