S35P3 – Waiting on God: confident courage

Psa. 31:24

Be strong and let your hearts take courage, all you who wait for and confidently expect the Lord.

A young man spent years of his childhood fearing the walk home from school. He would try his best to get out of class early so that he could avoid the other boys he feared. He would take different ways home from school hoping that he would not be spotted. Every afternoon was a game of cat-and-mouse. For this young man, there was only one guarantee. If he was not smart about his plan and had to face those who had it out for him, he would not be able to defend himself. One day, his older and larger cousin said that he would start walking him home from school. That day, the young man emerged at the end of the day with a different attitude. He knew that someone he trusted would be there to protect him. The young man was no bigger or stronger that day, but he had someone with him who was. That gave him courage because of his confidence in that protection. We wait on God with the same confident courage.

We are weak. We are incapable. We have targets on our backs. We have every reason to be afraid. We also have a very good reason not to be afraid. During the storms and the troubles, when we wait on God to appear and act on our behalf, that waiting is not done with trembling and tears. We do not anticipate relief from God wondering whether He will show up. We know and trust that He will do what He says even if it does not look the way we expect. I have no more strength today to conquer the enemy than I had yesterday. I will have no more strength tomorrow. What I do have is a promise that God’s strength is made perfect in my weakness. My confidence lies in knowing that it is God who will indeed come to my rescue. That is the source of my courage. We do not wait on a God who might show up. We wait on a God who will show up. Because we can be confident of this, we have no reason to fear as we wait.

We cannot let ourselves be distracted by all of the what-ifs that may cross our minds. It is too easy to ask “what if God doesn’t show up?”, “what if God comes too late?”, or “what if God doesn’t do enough?” Doubt and fear are not part of the equation when we are waiting on our perfect heavenly Father to save us as He promises. Is He the God who saves or the God who leaves his children to fend for themselves? He is the one who desires that we live abundantly in his peace. This means no fear and no worry. This does not mean that God is beholden to our every whim and will show up when we think the time is right, but it does mean that God will work things out perfectly for us in his time. Father, thank You that we can have confident courage as we wait on You, knowing that You will come through for us You have promised.