March 16 – Waiting With Confidence

“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.”   Psalm 27:13-14 (NIV)

Not very often do we find ourselves eager to wait for anything.  Where ever we go and whatever we do, we want to be in the fast moving line, we want to get it done and be finished with it.  Our verse today tells us of a different way – it tells us that waiting can be good if we are waiting on God's promises to be fulfilled.  These words are an expression of faith in our Lord.  The psalmist expressed his confidence in the goodness of the Lord and we can do the same. God has been good to us as we have been living for Him and we can be sure that, as we trust Him, He will show us His goodness from day to day.  Then we read in the second verse that because of this confidence we can wait for the Lord to act because He has promised us that He will show us His love and His goodness. Waiting for God to act is a part of our faith in Him and His Words of Promise.  It is by waiting we learn to truly trust Him.  We also can be confident of this: God will show us His goodness as we take heart and strength from Him in our waiting in faith believing His word. 

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June 22

“Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.”  Psalm 31:24 (NIV)

It may seem at first as if anyone who wants to be strong and be encouraged can just decide to do it and it happens. But it isn’t easy. We can’t be strong without some help. That is why the verse goes on to say it is for all whose hope is in the Lord. This means it is for those who are expecting something from the Lord. So how can we be strong? How can we take heart? By expecting God to be at our side and to see us through our difficulties. And the glorious part of it all is that God will fulfill our expectations. His faithfulness is acting for us.