The Faith is in the Wait

In the book of Ezra, Ezra is leading a group of Jews out of the dominion of one leader and bringing them back to Jerusalem. While reading this story, there was a passage that stood out strongly to me, and it reads like this: 

"I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had already told the king 'the gracious had of our God is on everyone who looks to Him, but His great anger is against all who forsake Him.' So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and He answered our prayers" (Ezra 8:22-23)

There are three major things that are important about this passage:

                                   1. Ezra was going into a difficult situation

                                   2. He had claimed a promise of the Lord

                                   3. He waited on God to fulfill that promise

Ezra's example is exactly how we should deal with hardship, but too rarely do we actually follow this pattern. So often, we  walk into situations in fear, and never claim the Lord's promises and don't stand on His word. Or, sometimes we claim His word over our lives, but then we don't wait on Him to fulfill it; instead, we feel the pressure on us and decide to move as a reaction to fear, and we try to act in our own will and find our own solutions. 

I wonder then, because of this, if so many of us find the Lord incapable or unfaithful simply because we don't let Him act.

Ezra says that He was "ashamed" to ask the king for help when he had already boasted of the Lord's goodness; in other words, he was concerned about protecting the Lord's reputation. When Ezra refused to back down from believing in this promise, and chose to pray and petition the Lord in trust, his prayers were answered and the people were delivered safely. However, can you imagine what would have happened if he didn't wait on God and trust Him? He would have made a fool of his faith, and would have made a fool of his God. By acting in haste, Ezra would have actually prevented God from having a chance to show the king (and everyone else) that He is capable of protecting His people. 

The only way that we can show other people that the Lord makes good on His word is by showing faith even when we don't understand a situation. When we tell people that God is good, but then we live and act like He doesn't even exist or like we need to take matters into our own hands, we set a horrible witness. And here's the kicker: God isn't bad, we just make Him look bad with our mistrust. We're not meant to run in front of the Lord, we're meant to let Him lead us; we're not meant to glorify a situation by our own hand, we're meant to praise His Name and watch Him work.

So now I challenge you to simply wait.  Wait on the Lord in situations where you feel outnumbered and afraid. Waiting on the Lord and the fulfillment of His word is vital - vital for our witness, vital for our faith, and vital to letting the Lord work. The Lord is a faithful deliverer and His word is good. Don't rush out in front of Him, but give Him time to show His mighty hand in your situation. And then when He does, praise Him with all of your heart, and let the waiting game begin again. 

"Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments" (Deut. 7:9)

"Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore He exalts Himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him" (Isaiah 30:18)