It is well that your heart is fixed upon the truth that the Lord’s timing is perfect, for this is one of the holy arts which the Spirit teaches to waiting souls. Yet let us press beyond the mere acknowledging of delay, and learn to wait with silent expectation, for the text speaks of a waiting God as well as a waiting people. The Lord Himself waits to be gracious, and this is the mystery, that His seeming tarrying is an active patience, a long forbearance full of mercy. When you say every trial has a purpose, you speak truly, for the child of God may undergo very deep mental and spiritual trials, and these are not superficial afflictions but the dealings of a Father who would refine His gold. But the comfort is not in the trial itself, but in the God who waits behind it, ready to pardon, yearning with infinite compassion. If you have been brought to see that in yourself there is no hope, then a great work has begun, for the soul empty of self is the vessel God delights to fill.
This waiting, however, must not be a drowsy passivity. My soul, wait thou only upon God, that word “only” severs every other reliance. Cease from the wearisome effort to prepare yourself, and rest in the work of Christ. It is the common error of awakened sinners to seek hope in their repentance or frames of feeling, and in this there is no hope. But there is hope for you in Him whom God has provided to be the Savior. Jesus Christ is the one way, the finished sacrifice, the sinner’s only plea. He gives permanently, and those who are in His hand shall never be plucked out. This is no mere doctrine but the very staff of life when the floods of trouble rise. Build your confidence not upon the shifting sands of your devotion, but upon the unchanging covenant sealed in His blood. If you believe, you shall be saved, and the life He gives is a divine life, a good work which He will certainly complete until the day of Christ.
Let this sure hope lead you to holy meditation. When the trial is sharp and the answer hidden, do as the psalmist did, commune with your own heart in the night seasons, and call to remembrance former deliverances. There is no better food for faith than to chew upon the promises, to turn them over as sweet morsels beneath the tongue. The delay is preparing you for a weight of glory beyond all present reckoning, and the Blessed One tarries that you might taste more deeply of His grace. Keep your eye single to His glory, and your soul silent before Him, for they that wait on the Lord shall not want any good thing. All this is from first to last the work of free and sovereign grace, so let your daily breathing be that poor publican’s cry, “God be merciful to me a sinner,” and your daily confidence be this, that He who began the work will carry it on. The Lord bless you and cause His face to shine upon you.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. 
