Waiting On the Movement of God

“Wait passionately for God,

don’t leave the path.

He’ll give you your place in the sun

while you watch the wicked lose it.”

― PSALM 37:34 (Msg)

FAITH is marked in the inward waiting of the outward sign. Faith waits. Faith hopes. It is patient. Faith is measured as it sits on the wings of the potential for movement. It has no sense of panic about it; its character is serene, confident, and humbly expectant. Faith is erudite; its own learned companion.

We do not, as a rule, execute or exemplify faith very well, however.

We are still too partial toward ourselves, worried that our God of Justice won’t actually vindicate us where we feel we should be defended and protected. Doubts take over when we could keep striding faithfully. We should want to back up and repeal our commitment; this is how we are! We go back on our commitments and we may, many times, end up back where we started. This is a place echoing with that sense of a soul-defeating déjà vu.

Back where we started...

There are two ways we are tested regarding our faith: 1) when humanity is our nemesis, and 2) when we, alone, are blocked and frustrated.

Humanity as Nemesis in Waiting for Justice

Many times in life it appears the nuisance person is favoured – this appears to us as unjust. We wait for justice. It takes too long, of course (memories of Psalm 13). What we rail against is for God to favour us, and this is caused by our enviousness. God cannot favour one over another, so are best repenting of the idea that we deserve a better set of circumstances and results. Only when we look at what we can do better (to repent) have we ready access to peace and joy.

Time as Nemesis in Waiting for Opportunity

Change we desire never comes quite quick enough beforehand, but afterward we wonder what all the whining fuss was about. In hindsight we can see that God was faithful no matter how things turned out for us.

Opportunities come at the right time, in the right way, of their own volition.

***

Faith is tested when we must wait for either justice or opportunity. We want justice if we perceive other people have been favoured. We want opportunities when we have seen the benefit in others’ life. Both tests of faith involve the temptation to envy. The patience of faith will endure past the object of envy.

© 2013 S. J. Wickham.