Trust in God - The Problem of Waiting (1-10-2021)

Trust in God: The Problem of Waiting Beginning Scripture: Psalm 37:7 and 9 Be still before the Lord and await him. (Hebrew Bible) But those who wait [patiently] upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. (KJV) These two passages tell us to wait upon the Lord. In our lives, we've had a lot of experience with waiting. First we had to wait on a vaccine, now we have to wait for it to be delivered, and, sadly, there are people who die while waiting for a hospital bed or room. And then there are the smaller interpersonal examples. For instance, how many times have I interrupted others to insert my words of wisdom as they were speaking because I was unable or unwilling to wait for them to finish their sentence? Maybe you have been exasperated waiting in line at the supermarket, especially in these COVID days when we are waiting not too far from people who might have the disease. It seems that many of us are not good at waiting. Psalm 37 of course is not talking about waiting in traffic or a cashier line, it is speaking of waiting upon the Lord. I have to admit, sometimes I have a hard time being patient - to put it mildly. At times it is just a few seconds - less than a minute or two. For example I get impatient waiting for something to download onto my computer. But more to the point, as I read Psalm 37 I was struck by how many times the virtue of patience or the ability to wait was encouraged. At first I was sure that the whole psalm was going to be about that and I was about to get impatient with those repeated exhortations. And then I remembered something that our pastor told me about how the Bible uses repetition and parallelism to emphasize the importance of an idea. Also, there is a much more fundamental and important message in this psalm. And that really significant message is about trust. This psalm is very encouraging to those of us who are still learning to trust God. Another thing this psalm emphasizes is the contrast between the godly and the ungodly. The godly person relies upon the Lord and is willing to wait for him. It occurs to me that there are three themes in this psalm which is so full of encouragement and caution. Those three themes, interwoven throughout chapter 37 are patience, trust, and righteousness. They are three strands of gold twisting around side by side in a bright amber cord of wisdom. Patience and waiting. I wish I could say that I am always willing to wait for the Lord to come through when I ask him for something. But I can't. Somebody once told me to be sure not to pray for patience because then God will make me wait and wait and wait. But for the really important things like when I ask God to help me to change a bad habit or a pattern of behavior that is long-standing, I can get discouraged. Sometimes I figure that I'm not worth God's help or time, or worse, I can conclude that God cannot be the all powerful God he is supposed to be because he has not helped me to change the way I thought he should. Of course, the problem is not God's but mine. And sometimes I'm not really ready to change because I have become too comfortable with that old habit - as bad it as it might seem. Or it might be that I am simply lazy when it comes to changing entrenched behavior or thinking. On the other hand, maybe it is something more basic, like a lack of trust in God, a weakness in my own faith. And this is something I do not like to admit to myself. The second strand in that golden cord is: trust God. Do you think this simple two word sentence, "Trust God" encapsulates much of the mission of Jesus and the teaching he passed on to his disciples? I do. And it is a lesson I continually have to learn and relearn. The Living Bible puts it this way: "Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him to help you do it and he will." (37:5) BUT two verses down it says: "Rest in the Lord; wait patiently for him to act." I have heard it said that miracles will occur IF we have faith, that is, IF we trust God. Let me give you an example to make this point. Early on in a Men's group I belonged to at my former church, we were talking about miracles. And one the men, James, standing with his arms folded in a defensive posture looked at me and spoke up. He said: "Glenn --- you don't believe in miracles do you?" I don't remember exactly what my answer was, but I am sure I wasn't real proud of it. Well, eventually James and I got to know each other and these days we are close friends and we laugh at that confrontational moment in which he questioned me about my faith. There is no doubt that I still struggle with occasional bouts of doubt. Maybe I should change my name to Thomas. I might have mentioned this to you before, but the way I look at it is that Jesus and I are partners in this life. He expects me to trust and pray to him, to have a good relationship with him, but he also expects me to put one foot in front of the other and take care of God's business in my life, that is, he expects me to do MY part - never for MY glory, but for his. Being honest, I realize that this partnership is a lifelong project and I will always have to work at it. And another thing: I am often tempted to tell others of what I view as an accomplishment in my spiritual life, to remark about my relationship with God. But I have discovered that this kind of talk often leads me to failure. I am finally coming to realize that my partnership with God is something I need to keep to myself. If I comment on it, it approaches bragging and when I brag I am giving MYSELF credit for something that is at least equally if not totally an accomplishment of God's grace. This tendency to take credit for changes in myself reminds me of a story I heard about Bill Wilson, one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous. Later in his life, the AA fellowship had spread internationally, and he was in an AA meeting sitting in the back of the room with his wife. And at one point the subject of the success of the fellowship came up in the meeting. Bill's wife, obviously knew him very well and she noticed him subtly move toward the front of his chair getting ready to stand up, and just as Bill was about to stand to speak, his wife gently but firmly reached over and put her hand on his arm to hold him in his seat. He looked at her and she was smiling. And he realized at that moment that he was about to stand up, introduce himself, and take credit for something that was God's doing. So he settled back into his chair and grinned at himself. The moral of that story, I think, is to trust in God not in self, to be silent and patient, and to live a godly life. That is the third strand of the golden cord I mentioned earlier: righteousness. And to describe righteousness would take much more time than I have. Questions and Challenges * Describe some instances in which you have been frustrated by having to wait. * Identify ways that you have had to wait upon the Lord and how that has paid off for you and others. * Think about moments of doubt you have had and reflect on how this doubt might be due to a lack of patience, and trust in God. Prayer Dear Father, I give you the glory for any progress I might have made in my spiritual life and in my relationship with you. Lord, please give me the grace to shut up and silently give you the credit. Help me to constantly seek you, to wait for you, and to trust you. We, in this community, commit ourselves again today to trust you and your grace and further commit ourselves to do our part in our partnership with you. We pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ our precious savior. Amen.