Psalm 27:14 English Standard Version (ESV) Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Yesterday our discussions ended with this comment, “What are we to do while waiting on the Lord?”

Those of us that have served in the military answer that question with “Follow our last orders until new orders are received.” That is an excellent answer only to the few that have an identifiable call to serve in one or more of the service gifts. What about the rest of us? That is not an easy question to answer.

The answer for any individual has to come during our quiet time with the Lord. Only He can answer what is required of us when we do not know what to do next.

Galatians 5:17 English Standard Version (ESV) For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

The flesh will tell us to do what we want to do. It will want us to react to every whim of emotion that is in direct opposition of the spirit. That is what the flesh does. We all have regrets associated with emotional outburst. Waiting on the Lord will heighten the desires for the flesh to “just do something”.

If there is any wisdom to be found in waiting perhaps it is this; don’t act in haste. Use the quiet time waiting on the Lord to explore the intentions of the heart, our new heart, the dwelling place of the Most High.

Psalm 139:15-16 English Standard Version

¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. ¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Show us!

Psalm 27:14 English Standard Version (ESV) Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Yesterday we spoke of spiritual loneliness and this was verse of the day from Biblegateway.

This begs the question, “What are we waiting for?”

David’s psalm is a king’s cry from a position of defense from attacks we cannot begin to relate to in our own personal lives. We do not have King David’s responsibility, we do not have his authority, and the problems we face today do not compare in context considering how much the world has advanced in the field of technology and the speed in which events happen.

What can compare is the honesty and confession of the condition which is in us. What is it we are waiting on? What do we expect of God? What have we asked of Him?

James 4:3 English Standard Version (ESV) You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

Think of passions as emotions. We so often allow our emotions to lead our prayers in asking God to fix what is wrong according to our own desires. Asking for things to change according to our desires places God in a position to ignore our requests that are either in opposition to His will or that are detrimental to our relationship with Him.

So often it seems as if He is telling us not to ask for these things but when all we want is what we want, we stop listening to anything that does not satisfy our emotions. Insisting on getting our own way will cause us to ignore what God is doing around us during these times. God is always at work and yet we wait for answers to our own desires.

What are we to do while waiting on the Lord?