Wait on the Lord I say! (Psalm 27:14)

We often read and hear testimonies about how someone (quite often a parent praying for their children) trusts in God’s faithfulness to answer their prayers for many years before they see that answer manifest. A well-documented example is Saint Augustine, whose mother prayed for his salvation from his infancy, and yet who seemed to wander further and further off the narrow way in a dissolute lifestyle until his dramatic conversion at 31 years old.

One of the unchangeable attributes of God is His faithfulness. In the midst of his darkness Jeremiah testifies of it in Lamentations 3:22-26:

“Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not

They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.

“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”

The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.

It is good that one should hope and wait quietly
For the salvation of the LORD.”

 We know that God’s word will not return to Him void (Isaiah 55:11), and many of us have held onto that truth in the middle of an empty place for many years before God has filled it with what He has promised – often in a completely unexpected way. We know that “those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength…” (Isaiah 40:31) and again many of us have personal or apocryphal stories of how God’s power and provision have carried them on an impossible journey as He has answered their prayers.

But I have been thinking about waiting for much short periods of time, and in a different context. The theme I’ve come to a few times on these pages is the need to tame the tongue. I probably keep returning to it because I keep finding that I still don’t succeed in that area! But there is a very simple strategy we can use to tame our wild tongues. What’s more we have probably all seen, read, heard and even spoken of it ourselves more than once. Quite simply, it’s “count to 10 (or three or five).”

Waiting a few seconds before we open our mouths in an emotionally charged conversation is in itself good advice,  and you can find it on Wikipedia and wherever else you might look for worldly wisdom. But Christians just have to add two words – “and pray“ – to take it to another level, where we have a practical and powerful example of waiting on the Lord. Because along with the advice comes the promise, as Jeremiah says in the verses quoted above: “The LORD is good to those who wait for Him.”

The Holy Spirit doesn’t need Long if we open the door to him: He will immediately start to bring peace, transforming negatives into positives, curse into blessing. He will always be good. “Cypress trees will grow where now there are briers; myrtle trees will come up in place of thorns.” (Isaiah 55:13

Paul exhorts us to take every thought captive, (2 Cor 10:5) but  if our thoughts are running away down negative tracks, we can’t take them captive unless we stop.  When we do, that simple act of stopping and waiting on the Lord is enough to let the Kingdom Of God take seed in even the most rancid situation.

Try it. Stop, count, pray. Wait on the Lord, I say!