I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning. (NRSV)
Sometimes waiting doesn’t seem like waiting. It seems, instead, like loss.
The disciples knew that Jesus had been crucified, that He had died. For them, death was an end. Mark 16:10 tells us that they were mourning and weeping. Their understanding of what had happened was ruled by the immediate and the physical. Death had come. Death was final. Everything they had lived and believed for the past three years was over.
Or so they thought.
The fact was that God was not done! And that’s what we need to remember in each seeming loss in our lives. God is not done! Rather than giving up, rather than trying to regroup, rather than believing there is no hope, we need to learn how to wait and how to hope in the Lord.
The Psalm says, "more than those who watch for the morning." Have you ever stayed up all night, wishing for the sun to come up? The waiting seems interminable, but eventually the sun does come up. In our lives, the rising sun is a constant. No matter how long the night seems, the sun eventually rises. Even in the northern lands, where night lasts for months, eventually the sun rises and light appears.
It is the same with the Lord’s plans, plans that He has for our good. Jeremiah 29:11 says:
"‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’" (NLT)
And again, Romans 8:28:
"We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose." (NRSV)
God Himself is working out the plans He has for our lives. Sometimes those plans include times of darkness, times of loss, but that loss isn’t the end. It isn’t even a break in the plans. These times are there to strengthen our faith, to give us opportunities to learn how to trust His Word.
That Saturday between Good Friday (the crucifixion) and Easter (the resurrection) wasn’t a break in God’s plans. Rather, it was an integral part of what the Lord was doing in His glorious plan to save the people He created, the people He loved. The disciples didn’t understand that, rather than a time of mourning, it was a time of thanksgiving, of celebration. The promised salvation had finally come!
When darkness comes in our lives, rather than fighting with God or surrendering our faith, it is a time to praise Him and learn how to trust. There isn’t anything to be afraid of in the darkness; He has been there all the time!
© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved.
For permission to copy, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com
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