“Good things come to those who wait.” We’ve all heard that saying. It often comes from well-meaning loved ones offering comfort in seasons of waiting. In 2 Samuel 5, we see the fulfillment of a long-awaited promise in the life of David. The tribe of Israel became a large nation ruled by David as their king.
David waited roughly fifteen to twenty years to see the fulfillment of this promise. When he was first anointed as king in 1 Samuel 16, though the Bible doesn’t give his exact age, many scholars estimate that David was around ten to fifteen years old. Later, David was anointed as king over Judah, and we are told that he waited another seven and a half years before his final coronation over all of Israel at thirty years of age.
Yes, as we can see in David’s life, good things often do come to those who wait. But we can see in this promise fulfilled that how we wait and what we are waiting for also matter a great deal. During his season of waiting, David had plenty of opportunities to try to gain the kingdom by his own efforts. Instead, David waited for the Lord. Though he had been promised the kingdom nearly two decades earlier, David trusted the Lord to fulfill his promises.
The book of Psalms is full of David’s reflections on waiting: “Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!” (Psalm 27:14); “Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield” (Psalm 33:20); and “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him” (Psalm 37:7a), just to name a few. Like David, we must wait patiently and expectantly on the Lord. He may not always answer our prayers the way we want him too, but it does not mean he’s not good.
Perhaps you’ve been waiting a long time to see God move in your life. Maybe, like David, it’s been decades, and you’re beginning to wonder if God is going to show up. Whatever season of waiting you’re in, may you be encouraged by this event in David’s life to wait on the Lord. God has told you that he will complete the good work that he began in you when he saved you and called you to himself (Philippians 1:8). And we know that his plans for us are good and worth waiting for (Romans 8:28).
So, trust Jesus, and wait for him. He is your refuge. He will not fail you.
Waiting on the Lord looks like surrendering my plans for how I think my life should go and accepting what He has for me right now, at this moment. It looks like realizing that if my life was supposed to be different, it would be. I can wait with confidence knowing that whatever is happening in my life right now is exactly what is supposed to be happening. I am experiencing God’s best for me right now. It may change in the future, but that is not what I should put my hope in. My hope and confidence should come from knowing that I am living out God’s exact plans for my life right now and I don’t want to sacrifice my good for His best.
Waiting on direction and answers. I can wait with confidence by trusting that He will work everything out for the good and believing it in His will and what’s best for me to bring me closer to Him.
I know His promises are true. I have seen some of them being fulfilled in my life but there are others that I am still waiting for. Like an open door, a new opportunity, etc.
It’s hard to wait, I’m not a patient person so I need to exercise my faith and remember daily how good God is.
And amazingly, even on the waiting God graciously shows that He sees me in this process and He cares for me!
By trusting Him and knowing that He has a plan for me plans to prosper and not harm not to lean on my own understanding In all my ways acknowledge God and He will make my paths straight
I am waiting on the Lord for my next step, in His time. I am waiting and resting in Him knowing that His timing is perfect.
Waiting on the Lord today is tough. Seeing the daily scare of kidnappings, destruction and the seeming unconcerned attitude of those in authority towards these done against a set of people in southern Kaduna, Nigeria, I sometimes wonder if God is seeing and interested in intervening. But despite it all, I’m thankful that the Bible tells us that God’s timing is totally different from ours and He sees the beginning from the end so will step in, in His own perfect time. I’m glad I’ve been taught well and I can honestly tell my Father in heaven how I feel but can also submit to His sovereign will. Doing that gives me peace, rest and hope that one day we will be free from all our troubles be they personal or general.
I Put my trust in Jesus
Not my will
I feel my life is uncertain
The will of our Lord makes me feel fulfilled
Jesus is with me no matter what I have to endure
Jesus is control of my life not me
Mark 14:36 “Yet not what I will, but what you will”
Amen
It looks like complete trust. Which is very hard for me. I struggle to relinquish control. Especially when things don’t look to be going my way. But I have tried to control situations. And I’ve failed miserably. In those instances I’ve lost my close walk with God and in doing so, also my peace and my joy. So that is how I know I can and should wait on God. No matter what He decides to do- or not do- it is far better left in His hands than my own.
Going on 4 years I have been waiting on an answer about something that I neglected to tend to that can be an expensive consequence. I’m asking for the Lord’s favor, yet, putting my trust in Him while I wait.
Also, praying for the salvation of my children, daughter in law, and children’s half sister. Waiting on the Lord and asking for protection from the the devil’s weapon of discouragement.
Waiting on the Lord is waiting for continued prayers, pleas for changes, betterment of myself and others. For others to see the wonder. I can wait in confidence because I have seen steps that are slow to progress.