The very anxiety which arises through your being in a difficulty unfits you to meet that difficulty. It has taken a lot out of you, you say, this worry has set up a throne within your heart, and it bids you bow down to every dark imagination. But you must learn to wait only upon God, for this mistake, whatever its earthly consequence, is not the hinge upon which the whole universe turns.
We greatly err when we begin to suspect some mistake in the arrangements of Divine Providence. We do not say it aloud, but that is what we think. We look at our own blunder and forget that He feels our trials most sensitively and is not standing aloof. To think that God is altogether like us, limited in power, indifferent to care, or thwarted by a single misstep, is a monstrous error. His work is not undone; therefore, do not seek to undo yourself with endless replaying of what cannot now be changed.
The work entrusted to you is real work, for wherever the Holy Spirit works, He makes men work. Yet your true labor is not the mere avoiding of errors, it is doing the works of Him that sent you. Even in this, the mistake is already past. What remains is the service of the present hour. Observe the pilot who takes charge of the ship; the vessel may have scraped a shoal, but the Pilot’s hand is still on the helm. Do you think He is less attentive now than He was before? God can afford to wait with His ultimate purposes, but we cannot afford to sink into slothful despair while we wait for the outcome. There is work yet to be done, and a fretting heart is a spent heart, useless for the duty of the moment. The servant who breaks an earthen vessel does not then sit wringing his hands until the master returns, he sweeps the floor and readies himself for the next command.
As for the waiting itself, it must be a brave waiting. Waiting upon God makes men grow small and dwarfs the world and all its affairs till we see their real littleness. Even if this mishap brings sharp consequence, remember how small a thing it is that we gain or lose by our labor. An old king once asked a laborer what he received for his toil, and the man replied, “My clothes and my food.” The king answered, “That is all I get for my work.” In the end, the Lord provides what is needful, and the loss of a little earthly advantage, or even a good name among men, must be borne with a quiet spirit. Has not He said, “Wait only upon God”?
And do not suppose that your waiting will be empty. We are a waiting people, not in despair, but in hope. There is a final success to all this waiting when the time of love has come, when the transaction of grace upon the heart is so real that a temporal setback becomes a place where God meets you most tenderly. Use this waiting not only to long for the trouble to pass, but to look beyond it. We can never be satisfied until we see our families saved, our neighbors saved, and nations bowing at Immanuel’s feet. Let this temporary burden press your soul forward toward that unutterable, unreliable love of God in Christ Jesus. He is the one eternal Rock of refuge; no error, no loss, and no earthly verdict can ever alter the finished work of Calvary.
Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart. The thing you dread may yet turn to good, but the truest good is already yours if you are found in Him. Wait, I say, on the Lord.