Believe that God will provide what is needed
By Ray King · Mar 22, 2023
I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!
Psalm 27:13-14
What does it mean to wait for the Lord? Does it mean sitting passively and doing nothing? No! It requires active waiting, seeking what we are praying for, not acting in fear, believing that at the right time He will provide what is needed.
In 1 Samuel 13, we read that Saul, the first king of Israel, faced what seemed to be an insurmountable challenge. Israel’s army, which he was leading, had only 3,000 men and were facing a Philistine army of 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and troops “like the sands of the seashore.” His men saw the seemingly overwhelming opposition and were hiding wherever they could. Some were even leaving.
Saul had been told by Israel’s prophet, Samuel, to wait seven days for Samuel to come to offer a burnt offering to the Lord before they went into battle. When Saul saw his army leaving while they waited, he reacted in fear and offered a burnt offering himself instead of waiting for Samuel, disobeying the instructions God had given.
When Samuel came, he asked Saul, “What have you done?” Saul offered an answer claiming that even though he had disobeyed God’s command, he was actually seeking God’s favor. Samuel informed Saul that, because he had gone ahead instead of waiting for God’s provision, he would be removed as king over Israel and be replaced by a man “after His (God’s) own heart.”
Ironically, after this happened, 1 Samuel 14 tells how Saul’s son Jonathan and his armor-bearer, in a dramatic act of faith, launched an unlikely attack on the entire Philistine army that caused the Philistines to react in confusion and turn on each other, resulting in their rout.
Saul had lost his position as king when God’s protection was readily available if only he hadn’t given way to fear.
What does waiting on God look like?
First of all, it is not passive. It means actively, continually seeking God. In Matthew 7:7-8 (ESV), Jesus says, ”Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
This kind of prayer is an ongoing expression of our faith. The Amplified Bible says, “Ask, and keep on asking … seek and keep on seeking … knock and keep on knocking ...” Waiting on the Lord means persisting until we see His answer.
Waiting on the Lord requires that we have confidence in His provision. He has promised to provide everything that we need, and He has the resources to back up that promise. He created everything. He owns everything. He commands us to ask Him for anything we desire when we remain in Him and His words remain in us (John 15:7). We can believe that we “will look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” as the psalmist says in the passage quoted earlier.
Waiting on the Lord requires that we have confidence in His provision. He has promised to provide everything that we need, and He has the resources to back up that promise.
When we follow Jesus Christ, we are involved in a battle with the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. We can expect that we will come under attack as a way to tempt us to falter (Ephesians 6:10-12). When the attack comes, waiting on the Lord renews our strength, even when we think we can’t take it anymore or wait any longer. “(T)hey who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
When we want something, do we turn first to God and the people He has placed around us, or do we get out our credit card and never discover what He was ready to give? When we receive a large medical bill and the provider threatens to “turn us over to collections,” do we panic in fear, or do we wait on Him in faith and experience His amazing, glorious, abundant provision?
Several years ago, in their song “More Power to Ya,” the Christian music group Petra sang, “(G)ood things come to them that wait/not to those who hesitate/so hurry up and wait upon the Lord.”
Waiting on the Lord does not mean doing nothing. It involves immediate, deliberate, continual dependence on God while actively seeking and waiting for His promised provision.
We can expect to look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living when we wait on Him.