My Thoughts on Waiting on the LORD

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Sunday services are starting to regather but not everyone is allowed to enter since the Coronavirus is still ongoing. Churches are only under half-capacity and people who are sickly are encouraged to stay home. People without quarantine passes and necessary safety gear are discouraged also for their own protection. In the case of John F. MacArthur, he has opened though I pray that he should only allow half-capacity and send sick people home to rest. 

Now, I thought about today's reading on the "Charles Spurgeon Morning and Evening Devotional". Today's reading is as follows:

Psalm 27:14 - Wait on the LORD. 

It may seem an easy thing to wait, but it is one of the postures which a Christian soldier learns not without years of teaching. Marching and quick-marching are much easier to God's warriors than standing still. There are hours of perplexity when the most willing spirit, anxiously desirous to serve the LORD, knows not what part to take. Then what shall it do? Vex itself by despair? Fly back in cowardice, turn to the right hand in fear, or rush forward in presumption? No, but simply wait. Wait in prayer, however. Call upon God, and spread the case before Him; tell Him your difficulty, and plead His promise of aid. 

In dilemmas between one duty and another, it is sweet to be humble as a child, and wait with simplicity of soul upon the LORD. It is sure to be well with us when we feel and know our own folly, and are heartily willing to be guided by the will of God. But wait in faith. Express your unstaggering confidence in Him; for unfaithful, untrusting waiting, is but an insult to the LORD. Believe that if He keep you tarrying even till midnight, yet He will come at the right time; the vision shall come and shall not tarry. Wait in quiet patience, not rebelling because you are under the affliction, but blessing your God for it. 

Never murmur against the second cause, as the children of Israel did against Moses; never wish you could go back to the world again, but accept the case as it is, and put it as it stands, simply and with your whole heart, without any self-will, into the hand of your covenant God, saying, "Now, LORD, not my will, but Thine be done. I know not what to do; I am brought to extremities, but I will wait until Thou shalt cleave the floods, or drive back my foes. I will wait, if Thou keep me many a day, for my heart is fixed upon Thee alone, O God, and my spirit waiteth for Thee in the full conviction that Thou wilt yet be my joy and my salvation, my refuge and my strong tower."

The lesson here is waiting. Now waiting doesn't mean that we are to sit down and do nothing. Just think people waiting upon the LORD just did what they were doing - to increase their spiritual maturity. It would be to exercise your responsibility but not stepping out of boundaries. What does it mean for me? It means I have to do everything like taking care of an honest livelihood, reading and studying the Bible, and doing anything to get closer to  God and to avoid compromise. Patience doesn't mean endless enduring or allowing myself to suffer too much. Rather, it's all about doing my part while waiting for God's answer. It doesn't mean I sit down all day but rather doing one's work without expecting instant results. The baker mixes the bread and patiently mixes the batter. The baker then patiently waits for the bread to bake. That's a picture of Biblical patience. In my case, I should really learn to wait while not being idle. I mean, it does take patience to get your thoughts done and to carry them out.

This also has me thinking about finding the right woman. Yes, I'm still single and I do feel the urge to start dating unbelievers. However, if God says no then He means no. Dating an unbeliever is a cowardly way out just because some of my peers are already getting married or when I'm pressured by unbelieving folks to get married. The big issue is finding the right woman requires God's help. Anybody can get married to anybody but the right person is really something. Sometimes, going by certain milestones such as getting married before a certain time causes one to land on the wrong person. Many times, some of these problems include incompatibility or that such marriages are only set for convenience than out of love. Though, I do believe that if ever the sin of marrying an unbeliever happens - a faithful testimony from a spouse may eventually turn the other person around. Then again, missionary marriage with unbelievers is just a no-no. I'm tempted to do it but I'd rather reduce the risk. Also, back then I even question why I wanted to date an unbelieving woman (with hopes of winning her over) only for it to be given a non-approval by God's standards. I believe God hardened the heart of the woman for my protection. 

Boaz himself was a classic guy in waiting while doing God's will. He was preparing for spiritual maturity. I don't know the age of Boaz when he met Ruth. I don't think he was 80 and Ruth was 40 as the Midrash suggests. Rather, I think Boaz himself was probably just in his 40s. However, women marry very young back then such as the age of 13-15. I assume Ruth was 15 and later 25 when she arrived. Boaz may have been only 15 years older than Ruth. Boaz was busy in his fields rather than rushing to find a wife. God managed to arrange them together in spite of their age gap to redeem Naomi's property as a kinsman-redeemer. 

I confess I'm tempted to murmur right now because of the prolonged Coronavirus pandemic or still not meeting the right woman. Sometimes, I feel like scolding myself for not accepting the proposal to date an unbelieving woman then I wonder why I'm looking back at such a sinful proposal. Not to mention, there are so many people right now who are causing more harm than good thus prolonging the problem. I want to take the Law into my hands. I want to get mad and hit the rock twice like Moses and Aaron did. Moses and Aaron eventually lost their patience and lost his ticket to the Promised Land of Canaan in the process. God told Moses to speak to the rock in Horeb but decided to hit it twice out of anger. I wonder how many blessings I've lost and how many sins I've committed to seeking temporal relief (such as wicked thoughts) because I refused to wait on the LORD?

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