More Good News About the Wait!

Mostly on this blog I just bring you into my daily walk with Jesus and what He is teaching me. So, welcome to one morning with Him!

Don’t you love it when the Lord gives you a particular glimpse of truth in a variety of ways. One day last week, my devotional and 2 books I am reading carried a common message relating to the “wait.” I recently wrote, in He’s Still the Same , about trusting Him in the difficult waiting times, as we reflect on His past faithfulness.

Then last week, He reminded me again, why He doesn’t reveal all His mysteries to us right now. In my devo, New Morning Mercies, (I’d heard last year all about how fabulous it was and bought it to read in 2022), the author Paul David Tripp, reminded us that even though we may have studied Scripture for years, even acquiring theological degrees, we will never learn all we need to know about Him. He said, “God will always confuse us.”

He explained that if we fully understood our past, present and future, then when we face confusion it would weaken our faith. Instead, when we don’t understand, we can make the choice to rest in the wisdom of the One who holds everything in His loving hands.

Real, sturdy, lasting peace, peace that doesn’t rise and fall with the circumstances, isn’t to be found in picking apart your life until you have understood all of the components. You will never understand it all because God, for your good and his glory, keeps some of it shrouded in mystery. So peace is found only in trust, trust of the One who is in careful control of all the things that tend to rob you of your peace. He knows, he understands, he is in control of what appears to be chaos, he is never surprised, he is never confused, he never worries or loses a night’s sleep, he never walks off the job to take a rest, he never gets so busy with one thing that he neglects another, and he never plays favorites.

Paul David Tripp, New Morning Mercies

What a powerful reminder of how we are to face uncertainty, chaos, or the wait for some sort of answer to prayer! Then, in my next chapter in a book I am reading by author Brenda Poinsett, Not My Will I read another message on this issue.

In her chapter “What Do I Do Now” she writes:

I don’t understand why a vigil is sometimes required to receive God’s answer. It looks like, if our hearts are sincere, we could just ask God what to do, and He would tell us. On occasion we may actually receive His instructions that easily, but more often the process takes time. It’s almost as if the process itself is important. Maybe it is. As we pray, we unfold ourselves, opening our will to His leadership. We sift and weigh, changing our perspective to match God’s perspective. Our vision widens, our hope rises. We pray on, listening until the moment comes when we know we have God’s answer.

Brenda Poinsett, Not My Will

Then, add to this, this same week, I started reading a book of Elisabeth Elliot’s with my D-Group.

Here is a quote I read in conjunction with what God was already saying to me!

He makes us wait. He keeps us on purpose in the dark. He makes us walk when we want to run, sit still when we want to walk, for He has things to do in our souls that we are not interested in.

Elisabeth Elliot

Isn’t that so God? I remember in a long wait years ago that He very clearly, in my heart through His Word, said, “You want an answer more than you want me, don’t you?” My heart’s perspective changed from just demanding an answer, to “Lord, don’t let me miss what you want me to learn in this. Let me focus on knowing, loving and obeying you THROUGH this until you show me what to do.”

And as we pray, wait, and even cry out to Jesus, our walk with Him becomes deeper and sweeter. It keeps us coming back to Him over and over. I wonder, if He answered immediately each time I ask Him for something, or some wisdom for next steps, would I be desperately driven to Him, trusting Him, moment by moment?

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments and untraceable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor? Or who has ever first given to Him, and has to be repaid?, For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

Romans 11:33-36

Personally, I am glad He is mysterious, that He doesn’t answer immediately, or exactly, as I ask Him. His mystery reminds me of His sovereignty, as well as His faithfulness to know what is best whether I do or not!

As Elisabeth also said in her book regarding what we do when difficult things happen to us:

We can trust God o we can defy Him…Faith is a decision. It is not a deduction from the facts around us.

Secure in the Everlasting Arms

Do you need His wisdom in a current life situation? Will you trust the One who has all the answers…even if He doesn’t answer today?

Banner photo by Ümit Bulut on Unsplash