Beloved,
Psalm 27:13–14
I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!
Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!
It is hard to wait. We are not accustom to waiting in our culture. We want things to happen fast. Have you ever considered what our inability to wait communicates about our relationship to God? Throughout the Bible, we are commanded to wait on and trust in the Lord. The Lord moves on his time table and in his own way. And he does so as the only Sovereign, the infinite wise God, the Creator and Sustainer of all life. Every time we wait we acknowledge that we are not in ultimate control, but must entrust ourselves to the One who is. Every time we struggle to wait and struggle not to know what will happen, it is God’s kind gift to remind us of his perfect Providence.
John Flavel, in his Puritan classic, the Mystery of Providence provides reasons God asks us to wait and persevere in our longing:
First, the delay of your mercies is really for your advantage…[waiting] is nothing else but the time of his preparation of mercies for you and your hearts for mercy, that so you may have it with the greatest advantage of comfort. The foolish child would pluck the apple while it is green, but when it is ripe, it drops of its own accord and is more pleasant and wholesome.
Secondly, it is a greater mercy to have a heart willing to refer all to God and be at His disposal than to enjoy immediately the mercy we are most eager and impatient for…
Thirdly, expected mercies are never nearer than when the hearts and hopes of God’s people are lowest…
Fourthly, our unfitness for mercies is the reason why they are delayed so long…
Fifthly, consider that the mercies you wait for are the fruits of pure grace. You do not deserve them, nor can claim them upon any title of desert; and therefore have reason to wait for them in a patient and thankful frame.
John Flavel was ousted from his pulpit by the English throne and spent years unable to gather with his people. He knew the pain and the purpose of waiting.
Friends, waiting may be painful, but there is purpose in our waiting. God is calling us to continue to wait and long for our time to gather. We will follow the government’s recommendation to practice social distancing until the end of April. We grieve that the time has been extended and yet we know the Lord has a purpose in it. We shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. We must take heart and be strong and wait for the Lord. Let us wait with an eager expectation and let that longing create in us a greater longer for the final assembly where all of God’s people will sing in one voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who is slain.”
Until then, let us love one another with a pure heart and let us grow deeper in our trust and dependence in the Lord.
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