Saturday Sep 17

Well, here we are on the down side of September.  All the transitional activities have started - schools, football, cooler weather, the touch of chill in the morning... Autumn is almost here in full, the Autumnal equinox as the sun passes south of the equator and thus slowly brings us winter. 
We are all waiting for something better.  No matter what, we are a species that always wants more and wants better.  I guess that's our basic programming to continue to grow.  So what is all this for?


Consider today's meditation by Bob Hoekstra:



September 17


Waiting on the Lord, Hoping in the Lord


I will wait on the LORD . . . and I will hope in Him . . . Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD! . . . Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the LORD.  (Isa_8:17; Psa_27:14; and Psa_31:24)


Living by waiting on the Lord offers another helpful perspective on living by grace. Waiting on the Lord is the same spiritual reality as hoping in the Lord. "I will wait on the LORD . . . and I will hope in Him." Waiting on the Lord is not merely about waiting (that is, allowing time to pass). Rather, it concerns humbly placing our hope and expectations in the Lord God as time is passing. This is what living by grace comprises (looking to the Lord to work on our behalf and within our hearts).  
Waiting on the Lord (hoping in the Lord) is a privilege that is appropriate for every area of our lives. Furthermore, wondrous consequences result from hoping in our God. "Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD! . . . Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the LORD." When we place our hope in the Lord (waiting for Him to work in our lives and circumstances), He brings us spiritual courage and spiritual empowering within our inner man.  
Those who wait on the Lord have a distinctively different destiny than the wicked, than the evildoers. "For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, They shall inherit the earth . . . Wait on the LORD, And keep His way, And He shall exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it" (Psa_37:9, Psa_37:34).
Evildoers (the wicked, who have no interest in the way of salvation) end up cut off. They lose everything that they attempted to accomplish in the developing of their personal earthly kingdoms. They thought they could take over a portion of this world, which belongs to our Creator God. Instead, they lose it all. They are cut off forever from their achievements, as well from the God who made them. On the other hand, those who hope in the Lord inherit all of creation, as well as an eternal relationship with their Creator Redeemer.  
Truly, "The LORD is good to those who wait for Him" (Lam_3:25). Therefore, let us "hope in the LORD; For with the LORD there is mercy, and with Him is abundant redemption" (Psa_130:7). Yes, let us "hope in the LORD from this time forth and forever" (Psa_131:3).


My Creator Redeemer, I want to live all my days waiting on You, hoping in You. What growing expectations You give me as I hope in You. I anticipate courage, inner strength, Your abundant goodness, an eternal inheritance, and (above all) an everlasting relationship with You. Praise Your name!


May you be blessed and fulfilled in the Lord our God.