Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.
Psalm 27:13-14 NLT
Confidence is a firm trust in something, but much of our lifetime experience challenges such trust. Personal disappointment and loss can severely dampen our confidence. We can lose self-confidence and doubt ourselves. We can feel let down and lose our confidence in God. In bleak circumstances we may complain bitterly and even entertain the idea of walking away from our Christian profession. When we feel hard done by, when life pitches another curved ball at us, we want to find a solution that minimises our pain. Such pain can be both physical and psychological.
Our instinctive reaction to pain is to seek to initiate some remedial action. Anything that might deliver us from the pain we are experiencing. This is healthy, for who would willingly live in pain? Yet, in God there are seasons when we are invited to wait with patience even as nothing seems to change or, if anything, simply gets worse. I am living through one such season currently, with ongoing diagnosis of Jayne’s chronic pain condition on the one hand and my own confusion surrounding the course of my own life. A number of initiatives have failed and I am left wondering what is going on in my life.
Patience is described as a “quality of being willing to bear adversities, calm endurance of misfortune, suffering”. This is not what anyone wants to experience. Yet, the psalmist invites us to wait for God with this disposition. It is one important aspect of obedience. The angelic announcement to Mary demanded of her, and subsequently Joseph, patience. Our journey to Christmas reminds us of the need for patience, for while we know 25th December will arrive, we cannot speed its arrival by force of will. If we consider life itself as a pilgrimage, there are many seasons where patience is demanded.
QUESTION
Is your life journey currently in a painful waiting phase?
PRAYER
Help me be patient Lord and may I be a quick learner when you ask me to wait and be patient. In your mercy, hear my prayer.
IMG_3035.becf5c78152449988ba4c040c092469b.jpg
