I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,

....    And in His word I do hope (Psalm 130:5).  It seems that sooner or later in every life,  there comes a moment (or moments) of crisis. And in the midst of the crisis we call out to the Lord “out of the depths” (verse 1). I think the Lord waits for such times, in order that He may be gracious to us, and so that He may have mercy on us (Isaiah 30:18). At such times within the encounter we become aware of His Holiness and our own lack thereof. This is the Psalmist, and he cries out “If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins,  who could stand?”  He adds “But there is forgiveness with You,  that You might be feared” (verses 3, 4).  And we have hope in the Lord, for with Him there is Mercy,  and abundant redemption (verse 7).

Part of  redemption is that the the Lord is very much into making the crooked places in our lives straight, and the rough places smooth (Isaiah 40:4). It is usually however,  far from instantaneous. From my life verses (Psalm 40:1-3), the Lord made clear to me that I was to wait patiently on Him (verse 1). After the crisis of all crises in my life  25 years ago, I obeyed His instruction to on His Word,  His promise of the redemption of my situation. But things got worse before they got better.   And I did wait, but I did not always wait patiently! This redemption of our circumstances is an ongoing process, and the one He has changed the most through it all,  is me! Waiting in the age of instant fixes is difficult, but the Lord has His timing, He is never early, but He is also never late!

And He waits for us, and with us, and He waits to be gracious. We need to wait in hope, and our hope needs to be in Him,  and in His Word (verse 5). He has told us that He is actively at work for good for all of us who know Him,  and are called according to His purpose. And two of His primary purposes are that we become more like Christ, and that we become fruitful fo the Kingdom (Romans 8:28, 29).  One of the many promises of His Word that He has underlined for me, is that “when a man's ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him” (Proverbs 16:7).  He has already done that with two separate individuals in my life. And I am waiting in hope on more!

Lord, I could never have waited this long if You had not waited for me and with me. I wanted to give up so many times, but You always did something to keep me moving forward. And at each stage You drew me closer. I even got to like myself! Lord I pray for all those reading this, that You will equip them to wait on You in hope, and that through the work You do in them,  and are doing in me,  many may see and fear, and put their trust in You (Psalm 40:3). And I choose within my soul this morning to continue to wait for You and to trust and hope in Your Word  in Jesus Name Amen