Devotional

Waiting on a Good God

Michael Beck

“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)

The blessed discovery of those that wait on the Lord is that He always comes through – rarely in the way we thought He would, or at the speed we thought He should – but always with an answer that delights the soul. Contrary to the claim of some, God is not dead. The worst horrors men’s eyes can behold do not negate that God is still in heaven, seated on His throne, ready to remold the wreckage of our lives into something beautiful. Jeremiah had this hope as he surveyed his devastated homeland, destroyed because a people had forgotten their God. In such a day, the prophet remembered:

“It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.” (Lamentations 3:22-24)

Every morning is an opportunity for us to have renewed hope. Why? Because God extends us fresh mercy. He is willing to be gracious to us when we turn to Him and seek Him. No matter how we have faltered, He wants us to experience His goodness anew. Faith in a good and merciful God causes us to trust Him for a blessed restoration.

The first restoration is a restored relationship with God. We don’t need to wait a second for that if we have confessed and forsaken our sin. But restoration of what we have lost through our disobedience will take some time. If it takes seventy years for our restoration, so be it. As we learn to wait on God He wants to create in us a meek and quiet spirit.

So much of our troubles are caused by our moving in our haste. God would make us as the mountains that surround Jerusalem that cannot be moved. He would keep us from the crooked ways that our fears and passions drive us down. Yes, there is something God would do for us; but there is even something greater that God would do in us. He would make us good while we wait for Him to do us good.

“Do good, O LORD, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts. As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the LORD shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity: but peace shall be upon Israel.” (Psalm 125:4,5)


Michael Beck is a pastor in the Dallas, TX area and the main author on Signpost. Receive a daily devotional he publishes every morning via email.