GRACE ANCHORED JOURNEY

Have you ever thought that in waiting there is trusting?

My friend once asked me with frustration, “Why didn’t the Lord answer my prayer? I have been waiting for quite sometime. I guess He does not hear me.” She had prayed for something to God for a long time, but she never saw it came to pass. She thought that God is not answering her prayer.

I paused for a little while because I needed to reconcile my thoughts. I used to think that way whenever I pray for something, and it would take time for God to answer it. Somehow, I could relate to her disappointment. She became impatient thinking that the Lord might not answer her prayer anymore.

I have heard this statement before but just brushed it off because I even thought that way, too. But as I gain more experiences in life and as I prove God’s character, I could not help but disagree with it. I remember Abraham who waited for twenty-five years for the fulfillment of God’s promise – his son Isaac. In his waiting, there is trusting. He waited and trusted that God would fulfill that promise, even though his circumstances did not go well with that promise.

My situation suddenly came into my thinking. I have been praying for healing for many months now. But I could not still grasp God’s answer to my prayer for healing. I could hardly imagine waiting for twenty-five years like Abraham.

While reading Psalm 62, I was reminded on how I should be trusting in my waiting. In my journey, I need to be like David who anchored himself in the power of God. I need to rest, trust, and wait on Him.

He is assured that his soul waits on Him alone because he is confident that salvation only comes from Him (v1). I have to keep believing and trusting that He, too, will see me through. I don’t know when will that be, but as of the moment, He is teaching me to wait in the same way that I trust. Without this trust, I will not have the peace to wait on Him.

David acknowledged God to be his rock, salvation, and defense (v2). He knew that in the Lord, he could always take refuge (v7,8). Despite being the king who possessed wealth and power, he relied on the power of God, not on what he had.

It is not easy to trust God at all times (v8). But David knew that this is the best thing to do. Not only that he knew it, but he experienced God’s previous deliverance in his life because he trusted and waited on Him. That is why he could trust Him that much. I believed that he is always looking back to those moments of great victory in Him.

I have been reading Psalms for quite sometime, and all I could see is David’s heart pouring everything out to the Lord. Likewise, he exhorted us to pour our hearts out to God (v8) because He is our refuge. And because he trusted the Lord, he is also confident that his waiting would not be in vain. He is secured in the thought that God would deliver him. I could only imagine how stressful and burdensome to be always in constant struggle with your enemies. David, on the other hand, lived a life of escape. Despite that, we can see his heart for the Lord.

In his Psalm 62, the words “wait,” “trust,” “refuge,” and “salvation” are repeated several times. It is an indication that these words matter most. When we wait, we have to trust. In the course of our waiting, we can be discouraged and lonely. But whenever we feel these doubts and lies, we can always take refuge in Him, until we see His salvation and deliverance.

In waiting, there is trusting. In trusting and waiting, there comes deliverance.

It is an encouragement to me that like David, I must view God as:

My  rock , I will not be shaken (v6).

My defense, I will not be afraid (v2).

My strength , I will not faint nor grow weak (v7).

My refuge, I will have peace knowing that He is always a shelter to me (v8).

I never truly understood trusting and waiting on God until these days that all I can lean on is Him, and all I can expect is His loving mercy. It is something that my friend needs to understand about God. Her prayer might not be a “yes” from God, but she can always choose to trust God and continuously wait for the unfolding of His plan towards her life. It might not be according to her plan, but God’s plan always works best for us.

Waiting teaches us to fully surrender our will to the Lord while resting on Him. It tests our trust.

“Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.” – Psalm 27:14

“Nothing whatever surprises God; all things that happen are absolutely certain from all eternity because they are all embraced in God’s eternal plan.” – J. Gresham Machen

Indeed, in God, nothing comes in surprise. In Him, there are no uncertainties, only absolutes!