Jessica Albritton, Children and Family Connections Minister, LHBC
Titus 2:11-15
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. 15 Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.
Have you ever had to wait on something? The other day I was waiting on a phone call. I knew it should have come by 2:30 but the closer the clock moved to that direction the more anxious I became. I found myself pacing, mindlessly flipping through Netflix, cleaning out a closet, literally anything and everything I could to distract my mind from the ticking clock. And then the clock hit 2:30… no phone call. Minutes turn to hours. I wanted to throw up. I finally texted and asked for an update. “Gonna be another hour or so, something major came up.” UGH Why is waiting so hard?!
We wait on a lot of things in this life. We wait to fall asleep, we wait in car circle, wait on responses to messages, phone calls, and emails, we wait on deliveries, and paychecks. This life is full of waiting. Waiting can be hard, but the hardest waiting I’ve ever done has been waiting on the Lord. Titus 2 speaks to waiting on the Lord when it encourages believers to wait for our blessed hope! That hope it speaks of is not a feeling or a circumstance, it’s the person of Christ! The word wait in the Bible refers to hoping with anticipation! It speaks to trusting in the unknown. When we wait we cease to work out the details and instead we rely on God to do what only He can do. This kind of waiting requires deep faith, patience, humility and often long suffering. When we wait on the Lord we wait for Him to answer our prayers, to deliver us, and to renew our strength. When we wait on the Lord we come to terms with the fact that He is God and we are not.
Psalm 27:13-14 states, “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Waiting requires time. The thing about God is, He works outside of time because He is the creator of time. 2 Peter 3:8-9 reminds believers that, “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you.” When we wait on the Lord we can find true rest because He is truly and fully trustworthy. God understands waiting and His concept of time is nothing like ours. His timing is perfect. Friend, what are you waiting on today? Lay it all at His feet and trust Him in the waiting!
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Heavenly Father, help me to trust You in the waiting! Lord, fix my eyes on You and help me to rest in Your trustworthiness! Help me to not jump to “fix it” but instead lay all my anxiety at Your feet. In Jesus name, amen!
MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK:
Philippians 1:18b-21
Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.