Are you living through a time of waiting?
Waiting for diagnosis?
Waiting for treatment to work?
Waiting for a prodigal to come home?
Waiting for a job?
Waiting for a loved one to be drawn to Jesus as Savior and Lord?
Waiting for this weary season to subside?
Does the waiting feel like a faith battle?
Reflecting on our past seasons of life’s waiting, my husband and I can look back and see God’s perfect care and providential timing in the battles. Even when His answers to our desperate prayers were no…or wait. Wait some more….and more.
We can look back and see now, but in heated years of continual waiting, seeing God’s ongoing work seemed impossibly hard at the time. Like me, do your thoughts drift toward anxious “what if,” when the battle of waiting rages on? Because all you can see is the attacks in battle? As my kids would say, “What a hot mess!”
God, help me to see You in this battle of waiting
My husband frequently reminds me of Elisha’s words to a man of God in the battle:
“Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Kings 6:16).
When the man of God could see nothing but attackers closing in and surrounding him, what did our precious Lord allow him to see?
“The LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kings 6:17).
The LORD gave the man a glimpse of His unseen but powerful work, graciously showing him why he didn’t need to fear the attacks he visibly saw. Our Almighty God was actively working out His plan as the man was waiting for the outcome of this battle, even if he couldn’t see it!
Let’s enter into a praise interruption together, interrupting our fearful thoughts, in this time of waiting, beloved fellow sufferer.
God, I praise and trust You because You are wise in Your providence
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
in light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise.
“Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise,” Smith, W. C., 1867
“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all” (I Chron. 29:11 ESV).
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” (I Cor. 2:9 ESV).
God, I praise and trust You because You’re all-powerful with just, good, and loving rule over all things
Unresting, unhasting and silent as light,
nor wanting, nor wasting, thou rulest in might;
thy justice like mountains high soaring above
thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.
“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
to whom belong wisdom and might.
He changes times and seasons;
he removes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding;
he reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what is in the darkness,
and the light dwells with him” (Dan. 2:20-22 ESV).
Father of glory and light, I praise and trust You for giving me glorious hope in Christ
“Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might” (Eph. 1:18-19 ESV).
“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (I John 3:2 ESV).
Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
thine angels adore thee, all veiling their sight;
all praise we would render; O help us to see
’tis only the splendor of light hideth thee!
Lord, open our eyes through Your Word
In today’s waiting battle, God’s helping us to see His glorious greatness…in the glorious face of Jesus Christ (Jn. 17:6)! Because we are in Christ, it’s His sanctifying, kingdom work actively going on in our waiting (Heb. 2:10-11; I Thess. 5:23)! He is at work in us and this situation. Right now.
So, beloved in Christ, we know He’s far larger than and surpassing what our limited vision can currently see about the situation we’re in, as we wait for the glorious day when we will see Him visibly.
We can trust God with the outcome of this earthly wait, can’t we?
What is His Spirit illuminating to you by His living and active Word? Matthew Henry[1] once wrote, “The opening of our eyes will be the silencing of our fears. In the dark we are most apt to be frightened. The clearer sight we have of the sovereignty and power of heaven the less we shall fear the calamities of this earth.”
Playlist
Let’s ask the Lord to help us. Let’s ask Him to help us see His light in today’s dark as He opens our eyes, as we listen to Him in His Word and believe what He says about Himself as we wait. Let’s praise God for His unchanging character: His love, His goodness, His wisdom, His power, His strength, His providence, His holiness, His reign, His glory! Let’s thank Him for His compassionate mercy and steadfast love to us as our heavenly Father, in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
This week’s gospel-centered playlist gift is filled with songs to help us each pray, praise, and trust Him in this hard time of waiting. If it would bless you to sing hymns and spiritual songs into your battle of waiting, sign up here and I can send them to your email on Tuesday evening. “To the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen (Rom. 16:27).
[1] Henry, Matthew. “Complete Commentary on 2 Kings 6”. “Matthew Henry Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible”. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/mhm/2-kings-6.html. 1706.
