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Resolve to Wait


Presents have been opened, returns have been made, lights and trees will soon be taken down, and the radio/music playlists for many has changed back to regular tunes. A new year is at hand and soon a new POTUS. Between terrorist attacks, political scandals, societal tensions, embittered parties filled with hateful rhetoric, whether Republican or Democrat, 2016 has been a year full of conflict and corruption. For many, the idea of a New Year dawning somehow brings thoughts of hopeful change. Who knows what awaits us this year, so we make our attempts to “better” ourselves. We look back at what hasn’t been done and say to ourselves, “This year, this year I will get busy. I will not waste my time, but I will be more practical, more purposeful, and more active.” For a short while, we will lift our heads high with grand aspirations, and yet in time, plans will be scrapped and promises will be broken. Hearts will be hardened, homes will be shattered, marriages will fail, churches will split, and intolerance masquerading as needed change will spread.

By now you are probably thinking, boy this crummy guy is all doom and gloom. Frankly, I believe that all of us can experience a bright and beautiful future; but it will never be found in this world-system (1 John 2:15-17). Needed change and hope will only come, when we learn wait. Does this sound silly? It may, because of how we have pushed and pictured New Years resolutions. Apart from traffic and internet buffers, hardly anyone has to wait these days. We are addicted to the instantaneous. How often have we told ourselves in a checkout line or on a hold call, “I don’t have time for this!?”

You see, David wrote in Psalms chapter sixty two, verses five through eight, “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.” This is the change we need; the resolution that must be kept. To wait on God. To sit at His feet and simply rest in His power and love. It is where our aspirations align to His will and our attitude is one of childlike trust. To the patient, wisdom is given. For the Christian, it is in the moments of humble reflection, prayerful and scriptural meditation, that he finds strength and understanding.

Again, this is why I am “doom and gloom”, because I see a generation that wants instant gratification and success. I see people who would rather immediately react to “biased news” rather than waiting to learn all the facts! I see a massive crowd of professed believers that would rather fulfill their own immediate desires than take time to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ! We have not learned to wait upon God! We all want to start off the new year right. If this is true, then may we all keep at the forefront of our thoughts the promise that, “The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.” (Lamentations 3:25)


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