Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us at the next Sunday worship service:
In-Person
9:00am & 10:45am,
Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Waiting and Watching

“But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love.” – Jude 1:21-22.  

We are waiting. We are in uncharted territory, our entire planet is trapped between ordinary life and sheltering in place because of the coronavirus. We are waiting for it to be over. For those who are sick to recover. For the economy to recover. For school to start and baseball to open. For a paycheck once again. We want to see the ten-day forecast, the timeline, the strategic plan, the goal, and the expected outcomes. 

Waiting on the Lord seems passive where COVID-19 requires action. But staying focused on the Lord is exactly what we need. Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.” Psalm 39:7 says, “And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you.” And Psalm 130:5 says, “I am counting on the Lord; yes, I am counting on him. I have put my hope in his word.” 

A classic story of waiting can be found in the book of Habakkuk. The prophet Habakkuk did not know what to do. Habakkuk needed direction, so he goes up on the ramparts of the city walls to wait for an answer from God. “I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guardpost. There I will wait to see what the Lord says and how he will answer my complaint. Then the Lord said to me, “Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others. This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed. “Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.” (Habakkuk 2:1-4).   

So we are waiting. But what if you swapped the word wait for trust. When facing an unknown future, which is true for all of us with the coronavirus threat, remind yourself that waiting and trusting is frequently the best response. Waiting, or trusting in God, is well-portrayed in the beloved verse from Isaiah 40:31: “But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” To wait is to trust. 

So here we are, waiting, trusting, amid a global pandemic. So, we wait upon God as we pray “We put our hope in the Lord. He is our help and our shield.” (Psalm 33:20)

Discussion Questions:

  1. Why do you think we sometimes struggle with God’s timing or His delays? 
  2. How can we know when it is time to wait? 

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