Waiting Upon the Lord

“Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” (Psalm 27:14)

One of the things that I am really good at is planning. My family and friends have often commented that I always seemed to have my life planned out and then I take the necessary steps to accomplish my plan. However, over the past couple of years the Lord has been working in me and developing the discipline of waiting for HIS plans, rather than me making His plan “fit” my plans. I have learned that if I wait upon the Lord, I will not be disappointed because His plan is the very best.

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV). Many times we are worried about what God’s plans are for us if we completely surrender our lives and our dreams over to him. However, God tells us that He has a wonderful plan for our lives beyond our wildest imagination. The question is whether or not we will give God the time to show us His plans for our lives or will we take matters into our own hands.

The psalmist indicates that waiting for the Lord is hard as he writes “be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD” (Psalm 27:14). It is hard to wait on God because it is a matter of trust. Trust is difficult because it requires vulnerability. We have all been let down by ourselves and other people in our lives. However, God will never let us down if we lean not on our own understanding and in all of our ways, dreams, hopes, and fears acknowledge Him—He WILL make our paths straight (Proverbs 3:5). When we feel that God has let us down, we must ask ourselves are we praying that our will be done or His will be done? We need to surrender our expectations before God can accomplish the very best in our lives.

As we wait for the Lord, we can be strong and take heart that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6). He will not let our foot slip (Psalm 121:3) if we have built our hope upon the rock that is greater than ourselves (Psalm 61:2). We must always remember that God is faithful to deliver on His promises in His time and in His way. So, do not worry about tomorrow—God has is all figured out...just trust Him!