Waiting
We have ample instruction that we must be diligent and redeem
the time, but in many situations waiting on the Lord is the best solution. God
is in complete control: we are merely servants. We have many specific duties and
responsibilities, but even in the discharge of these, waiting on the Lord plays
no small part.
"Who shall roll away the stone?" Who will help...? ... or, Who
can do... this or that, or whatever may seem to be required? These questions
often occasion needless concern to Christ's disciples. Much of such worry arises
from our failure to recognize our own actual insignificance in the overall
purpose of God. If we have any place in that purpose at all, it is merely as
instruments in the hands of God. As far as we are concerned, the meaning of
every circumstance lies principally in our own reaction to it. God is testing
us, not coming to us for help. He who holds the earth in the hollow of His hands
has no problems or worries, but simply an unalterable and irresistible purpose.
We can safely leave all the planning and engineering to Him. Our simple task is
confined to reacting to each new circumstance as it comes, in the way most in
harmony with His revealed will.
"Wait on the Lord; be of good courage" (Psa 27:14). Waiting
provides one of the greatest calls upon courage, and one of the severest tests
of it. But circumstances that require courage, like circumstances that require
wisdom, are simply arranged by God to give us practical training and experience
in seeking these things from Him. They are to impress us with our natural
ignorance and impotence, no matter what the external situation that confronts
us.
