Wait Patiently

Posted on by korgrocker

“Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.”
Psalm 27:13-14 NLT

We will have a last look at Psalm 27 before we move on. In the last verse of this Psalm, David advised the singers and readers to “wait patiently”. God’s timing is not always as we would wish but it is always perfect, so David included with “patience” the necessity to “be brave and courageous”. There are many times in life when we believers have to be so. 

There is always a tendency to get ahead of the Lord. King Saul and his men were facing into a Philistine army of impressive proportions. Many of the Israelite soldiers were running away. We pick up the story in 1 Samuel 13:6-7, “The men of Israel saw what a tight spot they were in; and because they were hard pressed by the enemy, they tried to hide in caves, thickets, rocks, holes, and cisterns. Some of them crossed the Jordan River and escaped into the land of Gad and Gilead. Meanwhile, Saul stayed at Gilgal, and his men were trembling with fear“. Samuel was going to join Saul at Gilgal, to offer the usual sacrifices, but Saul failed to “wait patiently” and took it upon himself to sacrifice the burnt offering, a sin of huge implications because that was a priest’s responsibility. But, “Just as Saul was finishing with the burnt offering, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to meet and welcome him” (1 Samuel 13:10). Saul made loads of excuses for making the sacrifice instead of Samuel, but had to suffer the consequences of his impetuous behaviour, ““How foolish!” Samuel exclaimed. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. Had you kept it, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command”” (1 Samuel 13:13-14). 

In another Psalm, David wrote, “Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes” (Psalm 37:7). Certainly David had to wait many years between his anointing as king-elect and his coronation as King, a time involving a lot of patience, but also a need to be “brave and courageous”, as Saul attempted to have him killed. There is a poignant start to Psalm 40, which reads, “I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord”(Psalm 40:1-3). David certainly knew all about the virtue of being patient in his life. There was a time in David’s pre-king days when he was in the wilderness accompanied by a small army of men who had defected from a life under King Saul. He was living in a city called Ziklag but while he and his men were away, the Amalekites attacked his city and destroyed it, taking all of value away with them, including the women and children. But instead of rushing off after the raiders, we find that he waited even though the situation was difficult. 1 Samuel 30:6, “David was now in great danger because all his men were very bitter about losing their sons and daughters, and they began to talk of stoning him. But David found strength in the Lord his God“. Before he took any further action David asked the Lord about what he should do, and by waiting until he had a green light he succeeded in recovering all the wives, children and property that had been stolen. A fascinating story that started with a conversation between David and his Lord.

Patience is one of the examples of the fruit of the Spirit, as Paul wrote in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” Nine flavours of a fruit that grows within us as we journey through life. Patience develops in believers as they learn to trust the Lord in their daily lives. They don’t rush on impetuously, or respond without thinking, because they learn, often the hard way, to stop and think and wait. And that involves patience. The writer to the Hebrews followed the great chapter about faith with this, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1). Other translations use the words perseverance and endurance instead of patience, all building a picture of waiting and seeking the Lord before making any significant decisions, no matter how big or small. James started his epistle with, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow“. We pilgrims believe in the Lord who supplies all that we need, when we need it. In life there are many adverse situations that develop around us, but we wait patiently for the Lord to act in them, obediently deciding against choosing a wrong path.

How do we learn the patience we need? Through prayer and power. Colossians 1:11, “We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. …”. James wrote to the believers “scattered abroad”, “Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near” (James 5:7-8). And that, in the end, is why we’re patient. In the context of eternity our natural lives are but a moment; surely we can learn patience just for such a brief time. Can’t we?

Dear Lord Jesus, we pray for more power and patience in our lives, as we look forward to Your return to this planet. There will be many situations to be patient though in our lives, but we know that You will help us in each one of them. Thank You. Amen.

Our Patient God

Posted on by korgrocker

“My enemies cannot speak a truthful word. Their deepest desire is to destroy others. Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with flattery. O God, declare them guilty. Let them be caught in their own traps. Drive them away because of their many sins, for they have rebelled against you.”
Psalm 5:9-10 NLT

David returns to thoughts about his enemies. David has little positive to say about them and, reading these verses, we get the impression that he thinks that God should feel the same way as he does. So, after David points out all the bad things that his enemies do, he asks God to do something about it. “Declare them guilty” and “Drive them away”, he asks. But does God answer his petitions? Straight away? Right at that moment?

That’s the thing about God – His patience. And aren’t we glad that He was patient with us, during those times when we were wayward and guilty of rebellion against God through our sins. On Mount Sinai, Moses encountered God, and his account includes, “The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). God will always give His enemies time to come to their senses, because He is patient with them and slow to get angry. He never wants anyone to perish in their sins. But impatient David wanted immediate action from His powerful God. 

Isn’t that the same with us pilgrims? We encounter many injustices in our journeys through life and want God to sort them out. The scandals of homelessness, drugs, addictions, wars, poverty – the list seems endless. “Come on, God, sort them out” we cry. But Heaven is silent and nothing happens. The scandals continue, or so it seems. But then we pause for a moment and reflect on the fact that God is holding back a tide of evil and wickedness that would more than overwhelm the problems we see in life. Of course there is much happening in this world that one day will have to be judged. But God is patient. He is aware of the injustices happening before Him. But He also has allowed mankind to make their choices, and one day everyone will be called to account for the things they have done. 

David spent much time in God’s company and he learned to trust Him in all the situations he encountered. We pilgrims must also trust God, having the faith that He knows best and one day will balance the scales. So, we pray about situations we encounter, we act as God directs, and we wait for the salvation of the Lord to be manifested in what is before us. 

Dear Father God. Thank You that You have this world in Your hands. We pray that You will help us see what is happening around us through Your eyes, each and every day. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

The Groaners

Posted on by korgrocker

“O Lord, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you. Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.”
Psalm 5:1-3 NLT

Oh dear! David seemed to be in a bad place when he started to write this Psalm. I wonder what was troubling him. Perhaps he was suffering from a sickness, or a physical condition that was causing him some pain. Or was it a problem that today we would categorise with a mental health diagnosis? Was he depressed or something like that? But whatever it was he was at least praying, communicating with his Heavenly Father. There are of course those who might question how these words from David’s pen could be inspired by the Holy Spirit, as they seem to reflect a very human condition. But they are an example to everyone, because they expose the fact that people hurt, and God understands how we feel. If David was able to pour out all his troubles before God, then so can we.

But David was not in a good place. He was groaning and sighing, not at peace with himself. He needed help and had obviously woken up a bit distressed. It is almost as though he was incarcerated somewhere because each morning when he woke up he prayed, perhaps for deliverance, and then waited “expectantly”.

In it all, there is much here that a modern day pilgrim like us can relate to. How did we wake up this morning? Well rested and full of the joys of spring, leaping out of bed, ready to take on all that the day was about to throw at us? Or did we wake up heavy in heart, groaning, tired after a sleepless night? There will be some who find themselves imprisoned by their circumstances, trapped in a loveless marriage perhaps, or forced to go to a job that they hate. In today’s society there are many reasons for being a groaner at the start of the day.

But David left us with a remedy for the groaners, a timeless solution that will never fail. He gave us three pointers that we would do well to follow when in distress. The first is to acknowledge God for who He is. David had no doubts that God was his “Lord and King” and he prayed to no-one else. The second point is to lay the problem, the one that is causing us to groan, before the Lord. Cry to Him for help. Ask Him to listen to our prayers. Voice out our prayer, audibly if necessary. Thirdly, we must do something that we are not particularly good at. We must wait patiently expecting an answer. God is always ready to speak to us, far more than we are to listen. Acknowledge, petition and wait. Three very simple pointers to write but perhaps a little more difficult to apply – that will take us a lot of practice and perseverance.

Dear Heavenly Father. Thank You for David’s honesty, as he poured out before You all that mattered to him. Please help us to learn from his example. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Be Filled

Posted on by korgrocker

“But his mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been filled, he said, “Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So the servants followed his instructions.”
John 2:5-8 NLT

This was no small ask. Fill up all these stone jars with water? We should remember that there was no running water supply piped into every home in Cana. There would have been a well close by but to fill those jars would have required some effort, to-ing and fro-ing with water carrying utensils. We’re not told how long it took, but it took a significant act of obedience. In the Amplified version of this passage of Scripture, we read, “Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim” (John 2:7). Perhaps there is guidance here about how we should be obedient to God’s instructions. Nothing half-hearted. The servants didn’t stop filling short of the top – it was to the brim, with probably excess water running down the sides. But we read next that Jesus told the servants to take some of the “water” to the person in charge of the celebrations. And again the servants were obedient.

The key for me in these verses is the act of obedience. Not just by one person, but by a group of servants, acting together to complete the Master’s instructions. We just get the bare minimum of detail in John’s account of this miracle, but we can let our minds flip to being a fly on the wall, watching what was happening. The news perhaps beginning to spread, that there was no more wine. Caterers with long faces whispering to each other. The servants rushing backwards and forwards carrying water – did the guests think that their wine glasses would be filled with that rather stale water from those water pots? Did the servants grumble a bit? I wonder what the disciples were making of all this, perhaps looking into the dregs in their wine goblets and wondering where the waiter had got to? Was Jesus there smiling to Himself?

We pilgrims probably know from experience that natural solutions to a problem are never as good as God’s remedies. Even if we have a fix, it will only be second best. But it is only God’s way that will bring about the real answer. We may be tempted to rush around and try and sort the problem, but sometimes there is a delay before the solution emerges. Jesus could have miraculously filled the water pots with water but instead He involved servants who were obedient to His instructions. God can miraculously fix our problem, but sometimes there is a delay, allowing our faith in Him to develop and flourish. Part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit is patience. ”But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!“ (Galatians 5:22-23). Of course God can solve our problem instantly. Jesus did all the time, when we read how sick people were cured the moment He laid hands on them. But as we pray, we can be assured that God cares for us. Because He loves us. And we trust Him day by day with every facet of our lives.

Dear Father God. We thank You for hearing our prayers. Please help our faith to develop and doubts to disappear. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Becoming Holy

Posted on by korgrocker

“Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.”
Romans 6:19 NLT

Paul now introduces the Roman Christians to something called holiness. He tells them that the consequence of living in a righteous way is that they will “become holy”. We know, of course, that God is holy. At the end of Psalm 99 we read, “Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy mountain in Jerusalem, for the Lord our God is holy!” In revelation 4:8 we read about four Heavenly beings continually proclaiming God’s holiness, “Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty— the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.”” And there are many other verses proclaiming God’s holiness. Nothing sinful can survive, or even get close, to our holy God. He is perfectly righteous, giving us the connection to being “slaves to righteous living”. But the Roman Christians of Jewish origin would have known about their need to be holy, because they would have had access to Scriptures such as Leviticus 19:2, “Give the following instructions to the entire community of Israel. You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” Did they perhaps think that the new freedom in Christ relieved them of such an obligation? If they did, Paul soon set them right.

What about us pilgrims? Are we living a holy life? A life set apart from the sinful world around us, a world full of people who apparently lack a moral compass and fail to do what is right? That happened before in Israelite history. It is nothing new. We read in Judges 21:25, “In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” It sounds remarkably similar to what is happening in our Western societies. Politicians who do not know the King are suggesting and approving legislation without any reference to the higher Power, and instead are listening to, and obeying, their devil-inspired, sinful selves. Of course, we cannot shut ourselves away in a protected, holy space somewhere, like a modern day monk or nun, much as we would like to sometimes. In Jesus’ longest prayer, He prayed for His disciples, and we read in John 17:15-16, “I’m not asking You to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do.” We pilgrims live in this world, whether we want to or not, but we don’t have to be a part of it. And we echo Jesus’ prayer by asking our loving Heavenly Father to keep us safe from the “evil one”. 

We pilgrims are now living as slaves to a righteous life, sanctified by the blood of Jesus, holy in God’s sight. And we don’t look back on what we once were, but we look forward in our journey to the Promised Land, Heaven itself. A place of righteousness and holiness for eternity.

Father God. We worship You, the Holy One, grateful for Your grace, and patience with us. Amen.