“The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.” (Lamentations 3:25, 26)
There is a great need for us to go deeper in our seeking of God than the seeing of our eyes and the hearing of our ears. Since God’s ways are higher than our ways and God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts, we are called upon to reach beyond our own assessments and desire the mind of God in any situation. The mark of the wicked is that “God is not in all his thoughts.” “Through the pride of his countenance, (he) will not seek after God.” (Psalm 10:4) But a righteous person is able to do wickedly if they leave off earnestly seeking God and lean to their own understanding. God’s work cannot prosper when man is at the helm.
Unless we are taught by the anointing we have received we will not abide in Him. (1 John 2:27) It was because of the anointing upon Jesus that He was able to “judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” (John 7:24) There is a lowliness of mind characteristic of Jesus that needs cultivating in His disciples. How often did He rebuke them for the quickness with which they assessed a situation and arrived at faulty conclusions. It is altogether becoming that we humble ourselves before God and sit at His feet until He lifts us up with His word in our mouth and His direction for our feet.
How much do we truly want the mind of God? God will test us to find out. Troubles, distresses, dilemmas will cry out for resolve. Solutions will be proposed from all different quarters. The demand for action will be made. God will “leave us to try us” as He did with Hezekiah. (2 Chronicles 32:31) What will we do? Will we be provoked to move without God’s certain direction, or will we prostrate ourselves before God and wait until He lifts us up? Quieting our hearts before God is often the key element in successful waiting.
David is an excellent Old Testament example of one who in brokenness sought God for His way to be revealed. He was surrounded by others, even his inner circle, who were not as accustomed to broken dependency upon God. After seeing what such men did in the haste and heat of their own spirits, David cries out: “I am this day weak, though anointed king; and these men the sons of Zeruiah be too hard for me …” (2 Samuel 3:39) While others got stronger in their own ideas, David got weaker. No doubt some saw David’s waiting upon God as a sign of indecisiveness. Yet, when David moved in the haste of his own spirit, he met with sore rebuke from God. We often learn the value of meekness the hard way.
Finding God’s way is not an automatic for any of us. It is the product of earnest seeking and quiet waiting. Poverty of spirit is a prerequisite to such begging. Only those who trust that God will give certain wisdom and direction can afford to wait. Only those who wait for bread will avoid a stone.