“My eyes fail, looking for your promise; I say, “When will you comfort me?” … How long must your servant wait?” Psalm 119:82, 84.
Waiting can be a huge challenge, requiring a lot of patience. Singleness was fine in my twenties and early thirties… then I hit a stone wall in my mid-thirties. My plan of marriage and children didn’t seem to be working out. It was no longer fun being single. Dating, waiting, hoping, then things not changing was not an experience I had anticipated.
I think I had gotten into the habit of being the one in control of my life and having things go my way, on my timescale. I didn’t see anything wrong with that. Aren’t we supposed to have plans and goals to pursue?
I had completed my studies, been working in the career I wanted, had my home how I wanted it, was active in my local church – it followed that I would meet someone I loved, who would love me and we would get married and have a family. I had never considered myself to be a control addict, but when things don’t go to plan it flies in the face of the belief that WE are in control of everything. Even as a Christian we may say GOD is in control, but how many times do we really want to call the shots and have God just give his agreement. It’s humbling to wait on God to take action in our situation.
I am encouraged to find in the bible that David didn’t seem to have a great time waiting either, as the bible text above states “How long?” was his big question, and I can identify with that. David had been anointed by the prophet Samuel to be the next King of Israel (1 Samuel 16:1, 12, 13), but yet despite him being a giant slayer this promise had not materialised into reality. His reality instead was running as a fugitive, commentators say for about 15 years, trying to escape the death threat of King Saul. This could not have been an easy wait, living with constant upheaval, having to find somewhere to shelter, find food to survive, not only for him but also for his men and the families who supported him. It’s easier to trust God when things work out on a timescale and in a way that we consider manageable, but what happens when it doesn’t? Do we question Gods love for us? Do we still trust God or do we take matters into our own hands?
David was still on the run when Saul came into the same cave that he was hiding but Saul was unaware of David’s presence. What a great opportunity to end things right there! David’s men said,” This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, ”I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.” 1 Samuel 24:4. To his men it looked like God was working things out in David’s favour. It seemed like a good idea to kill Saul, however David knew and trusted God, his personal relationship with the Lord enabled him to say; “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lift my hand against him.” 1 Samuel 24:6. He would not harm the King, even though he was making his life a misery, nor would he allow his men to kill Saul. He proved to be the better man by continuing to wait on God to sort things out in his way and in his time. David later said to Saul,” May the Lord Judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you.” 1 Samuel 24:12.
Saul eventually came to a sticky end, wounded in war by his enemies he fell on his own sword and took his own life, (1 Samuel 31:4). David continued to be faithful to God and was made King of Judah and Israel;
“David was thirty years old when he became King, and he reigned for forty years.” 2 Samuel 5:4. David was not guilty of taking matters into his own hands and killing Saul, instead he had waited on Gods plan to unfold.
As a single person we may feel we are” in a rock and a hard place” it is not easy to wait on God. We can think “How long must I wait?” why is God taking so long to do something about my situation. It may appear better to work things out in a way that seems best to us. But God would like us to trust him even when we don’t understand him. It may sound crazy, but sometimes HOW God does things doesn’t make sense to us, we just can’t understand it! But he does have a good plan for our lives and at times, like David, we have to wait a while before He works things out for us. We will be happy with the result, but we need to be patient, humbly allow him to be in control, and wait for his timing because he is never too late.
Be encouraged.