“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” — Psalm 27:14
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Renegade is a thoroughbred horse ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. and trained by Todd Pletcher. He is expected to compete for the top prize at the Kentucky Derby and other big races in 2027 since he recently won the Arkansas Derby and finished runner-up in this year’s Kentucky Derby. Yet, as beautiful and strong as Renegade and other horses are, they get easily spooked by loud sounds or bright lights, and can harm themselves unless their owner or rider puts a harness or bridle on to help calm them.
We humans can be the same. We also tend to panic and try to fix problems ourselves without consulting with God, especially when we are waiting and don’t think anything is happening to better our situation.
When the Israelites looked at the deep Red Sea in front of them and Pharaoh’s large army behind them, they thought Moses didn’t know what he was doing. But the Lord worked behind the scenes to fulfill His promises. As Pharaoh got closer with his horses, chariots, spears and swords, the people spoke about returning to Egypt, but Moses urged them to trust God and wait it out (Exodus 14:13-14). Though it was a scary night, God sent a strong east wind and made a dry path through the deep waters.
Later, Sarah and Abraham knew God pledged to give them a son in their old age; the promise was given when Abraham was 75 and Sarah was 65. It seemed too good to be true, but God is able to do anything. For 11 years, the couple trusted God, but then Sarah lost patience and Abraham agreed to produce a child with their servant Hagar. It wasn’t God’s plan or timing, and it caused jealousy and division in the family. Even though God didn’t approve of the shortcut taken by Abraham and Sarah, He forgave them and kept His word to miraculously bring forth a son for Sarah and Abraham. So Sarah gave birth to Isaac at age 90 and Abraham was 100 years old at the time (Genesis 21).
Surely, some of God’s greatest miracles happen when we think about giving up and quitting.
Though patience is unnatural for us, we need to remember that God is doing what’s best. In other words, we don’t know as much as we think we know, and God knows all things, including the future. Therefore, waiting teaches us to trust God when we don’t understand. Us rushing into things doesn’t help. In fact, we often hurt ourselves and others by hurrying to make decisions without prayer or asking advice from fellow believers.
The Book of Proverbs urges us to study situations and walk carefully until we have wisdom. We often experience regret when we push forward without clear direction from God to do so (Proverbs 19:2). We need to learn to wait on specific instructions from God out of Scripture and through the Holy Spirit. Our minds want to hurry but God often wants us to pray more and not move ahead without His guidance.
When we want to run away and hide or we are stressed out, it’s a good time to spend time with God and see if we need to delay our decision until we have assurance from the Lord.
— Bill Kent, Pastor of Memorial Baptist Church, Sylvania, Georgia
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