You have been waiting on a word, watching for the post or for the telephone to ring, and the silence has begun to feel like a weight you carry even while you sleep. It is the way of things in this world that our peace gets tied up with a letter, a single line from an attorney, a date on a court calendar. But do you know, your real estate, not this house of brick and mortar, but your life, your breath, your hours, is held in a grip far steadier than any legal document. The whole earth and all that is in it belongs to the Lord, and He has not forgotten whose name is on the title deed of your days.
You are troubled about tenants, and that is a care you may lawfully bring to God, for He is a God of justice and right order. But come, let me set your feet on something firmer than the turn of a legal proceeding. Your heavenly Father is the great Landlord of us all, we dwell in these bodies, in these homes, only by His leave and benevolence. He holds the hearts of all men in His hand, and even an uncooperative tenant, even an attorney who seems slow, cannot step outside His governance. Nothing unravels His purposes. Before ever you picked up the lease or fretted over the overdue rent, He was Lord of that house and of every soul within it. Why, the very breath in the lungs of those who trouble you is His gift, given moment by moment. Do you think He cannot stir them out, easily and swiftly, when the appointed hour comes?
You have asked for this week, and I will not chide you for naming a day. Our Saviour once said, “Come,” and a woman with an issue of blood touched Him and was healed at that very hour. He knows what it is to be pressed by time. Yet I would encourage you, not to bind your faith to a calendar square, but to fasten it to the Man who is already managing the matter in the throne room of heaven. The letter may arrive later than you hope, and God will be just as faithful if it comes on a Tuesday rather than a Thursday. But while you watch for the news from the courts below, remember you have an Advocate above, who pleads your cause with far greater authority than any solicitor. Jesus Christ ever lives to intercede, and He takes your small, earthly plea and blends it with the incense of His own perfect prayer.
It may be that this trouble has been permitted so that you would learn to cast anchor in deeper water. A ship will toss less in a squall if the anchor grips far beneath the surface; and when your hope is lodged not in an eviction but in a Saviour, the waiting becomes bearable, even peaceful. You have a Friend who never loses a case, who heard you the first time you whispered “Jesus.” He has the timeliest answer already prepared, wrapped up in the folds of providence, and you shall see it unsealed before long. In the silence, remember that a love letter sometimes comes in a black-edged envelope, what looks like bad tidings often carries the tenderest care. Whether the news seems swift or slow, whether the tenants leave easily or prove stubborn, your God is working all for your good and His glory.
Now, let us bow together, for this is the Father’s work, and we are His children.
Lord Jesus, You who own the cattle on a thousand hills and hold the keys of every door, look on this trial and bring resolution according to Your wisdom. Quiet the anxious racing of the heart, and grant a settled confidence that all is safe in Your hands. Send, I pray, the word of good news that is needed, and make the way clear; but more than that, let Your presence be the peace that passes understanding, keeping the heart and mind. I commit them to You, O Christ, who are the same yesterday, today, and forever. Amen.