Devotionals by Dr. M. Craig Barnes
Wait for the Lord, be strong and let your heart take courage, wait for the Lord. --
David was the most powerful king in the history of Israel. So isn't it fascinating that he associated strength and courage with waiting? We would think that a king wouldn't have to wait for much. That's because we assume the whole point of having strength and courage is to be able to push our way into our dreams. But as powerful as he was, King David didn't make any of his dreams come true. Every good thing in his life came as a blessing from the hand of God.
According to the Bible, a blessing is the thing we most want, which can only come as a gift from God. And here's the hard part: whenever someone in the Bible received a blessing, it always arrived sooner or later than it was expected. Usually later.
Why do God's blessings arrive late so often? Maybe it is because waiting for a blessing is the best way for our faith to grow strong and courageous. By waiting, our souls are given time to turn away from the thing we most want and turn back to the God from whom all blessings flow. Then we realize that the real blessing isn't that we may finally get what we have long wanted, but that we are receiving it from the Blesser. But by the time you have waited long enough to be that focused on God, you are free from wanting anything or anyone else. Only then are you truly free, which is one of God's greatest blessings.
-- Craig Barnes