God Speaking

“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope” (Psalm 130:5)

A few weeks ago our church set aside one Sunday to concentrate upon The Stephen Ministry which is very active within our congregation, but because of the very nature of its personal and private caring role, is not always noticed by the majority of the people who worship every Sunday. The Stephen Ministry is based on Jesus words, “Love one another” and is an outreach to the hurting whatever that may mean in an individual’s life, and is always on a one to one basis. I was very impressed with the speaker and the way he stressed the need to be trained for this special ministry and the need to be especially trained in the art of listening. I was intrigued by the clever way he reminded himself that “listening to someone” meant exactly that and used a clever acrostic phrase to constantly remind himself of when he should be silent; WAIT! Why Am I Talking? During his talk I was thinking that I should use that same phrase to help me in many of the relationships I find myself in when it suddenly occurred to me that perhaps the most important of all my relationships is the one I have with my Heavenly Father. Why am I doing all the talking whenever we get together?

I began to think more deeply about the phrase that occurs frequently in Scripture, “Waiting upon the Lord” and how being silent before him can be an enriching experience. My father had a sweet phrase he used when after a hot day he would sit quietly outside to catch any cool breeze that would waft across our garden and if asked why he was there would reply, “I am just savouring the evening breeze”. As I remembered that phrase I thought that is exactly what we would be doing if we could be silent before the Lord and spend time savouring just his beautiful presence and in turn be refreshed by being still.

The Psalmists knew the importance of taking time out of our busy lives and to be just still before our Maker,

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;..” (Psalm 37:7)

Being still means lack of any movement so waiting patiently means actively being engaged in listening to what our Lord would have us hear. Max Lucado put it this way,

“To wait is not to worry, fret, or make demands or take control. To wait is to live in prayerful expectation”

The Lord himself reminds us that if our lives are one frantic activity after another, we are in danger of forgetting who he is and gives us this directive;

“Be still, and know that I am God;…” (Psalm 46:10)

One of my favourite choruses we sing in church is based upon a passage from Isaiah 40:31 ESV and assures us of the benefits we gain by waiting upon the Lord;

Those that wait upon the Lord

Shall renew their strength

They will rise up with wings like eagles

They will run and not grow weary

They will walk and not faint

Teach me Lord teach me Lord to wait.

The most important line in that chorus for me is the last one; “Teach me Lord to wait” I need to repeat it to myself over and over again.

Another lovely quote that I associate with the word “wait” is from an old man who frequently absented himself from his family with these words, “I am going to sit awhile with Jesus.”

It is a wonderful exercise to practice what that old man had come to cherish; just spending some quite time with our Lord, savouring his presence, waiting upon him, listening to that still small voice, allowing his love to flow over us, being still in joyful expectation and knowing who our everlasting Father is, will bring about such a time of refreshing we will be soaring on eagles’ wings.

Related articles

• Rest in the Lord (lettersfromlilies.wordpress.com)
• Wait Upon the Lord (shareaverse.wordpress.com)