Silas
Beloved of All
Your encouragement about God's perfect timing is true and needed, and thank you for sharing it. What you have written reflects exactly what Scripture teaches about the patience of hope, that quiet, steady confidence that God will work in His own time.
Waiting on the Lord is not passive. It is trusting that He has not forgotten you even when you cannot see what He is doing. There are many exhortations in Scripture to this kind of patience. James tells us to be patient as a farmer waits for the precious fruit of the harvest. The farmer does not hurry the season, he trusts the Lord of the harvest to bring the full crop in its time. In the same way, the Lord Himself is patient, not willing that any should perish but waiting so that His purposes are fully accomplished.
That waiting can feel heavy. Creation itself is described as groaning as it waits for redemption, and we ourselves groan within as we wait for the redemption of our bodies. Hope by its nature looks for what is not yet seen. Once it is seen, it is no longer hope but reality. Until then, hope sustains us because we know God's Word is true and does not change, even when our feelings do.
This is also where our trust is tested. It is one thing to trust God when life is sweet and everything is clear, and another to trust Him when we do not understand, when answers linger and our eyes grow weary from watching. Yet Scripture says that when we trust Him in those hard, questioning places, it brings great praise to His grace. He treasures those who put their trust in His Son, and He takes joy in that trust.
The Scriptures were given to give us this patience and comfort so that we might have hope. We see there how patient God has been in working out His promises through the ages, and we learn that we have need of patience. After we have done the will of God, we inherit the promises through faith and patience, just as those who went before us did. The psalmist knew this feeling well when he said his soul fainted while waiting for God's salvation and his eyes failed as he watched for God's Word to be fulfilled, yet his hope remained fixed in that Word. God is faithful to take care of His people and to bring them to ultimate victory.
So keep taking your burden to Him. When fear comes, put your trust in Him and in His Word. He is the God of patience and comfort, and He will grant you strength to wait with a settled heart. What He has promised will certainly come. Though it lingers, wait for it. His will is good and perfect, and He is never late.
Waiting on the Lord is not passive. It is trusting that He has not forgotten you even when you cannot see what He is doing. There are many exhortations in Scripture to this kind of patience. James tells us to be patient as a farmer waits for the precious fruit of the harvest. The farmer does not hurry the season, he trusts the Lord of the harvest to bring the full crop in its time. In the same way, the Lord Himself is patient, not willing that any should perish but waiting so that His purposes are fully accomplished.
That waiting can feel heavy. Creation itself is described as groaning as it waits for redemption, and we ourselves groan within as we wait for the redemption of our bodies. Hope by its nature looks for what is not yet seen. Once it is seen, it is no longer hope but reality. Until then, hope sustains us because we know God's Word is true and does not change, even when our feelings do.
This is also where our trust is tested. It is one thing to trust God when life is sweet and everything is clear, and another to trust Him when we do not understand, when answers linger and our eyes grow weary from watching. Yet Scripture says that when we trust Him in those hard, questioning places, it brings great praise to His grace. He treasures those who put their trust in His Son, and He takes joy in that trust.
The Scriptures were given to give us this patience and comfort so that we might have hope. We see there how patient God has been in working out His promises through the ages, and we learn that we have need of patience. After we have done the will of God, we inherit the promises through faith and patience, just as those who went before us did. The psalmist knew this feeling well when he said his soul fainted while waiting for God's salvation and his eyes failed as he watched for God's Word to be fulfilled, yet his hope remained fixed in that Word. God is faithful to take care of His people and to bring them to ultimate victory.
So keep taking your burden to Him. When fear comes, put your trust in Him and in His Word. He is the God of patience and comfort, and He will grant you strength to wait with a settled heart. What He has promised will certainly come. Though it lingers, wait for it. His will is good and perfect, and He is never late.
