The Lord Waits on Us

The Bible tells us to wait on the Lord.

For example, in Psalm 27:14, David says, “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

And in Isaiah 30:18, Isaiah writes, “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!”

But very often, it’s the other way around—the Lord waits on us.

In Exodus 12:42, it says that the Lord “kept vigil that night to bring them [the Israelites] out of Egypt.”

In Joshua 3:17, the Levite priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood in the middle of the Jordan River and waited while the entire nation of Israel, about 40,000 armed for battle, crossed over before the Lord on dry ground.

Think about 40,000 people. That is literally acres of people. To make a modern-day comparison, Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon that seats 46,000. Imagine the time it takes to empty a stadium of that size. Now factor in that the people aren't wearing their running shoes and carrying little felt pennants; instead, they're wearing armor and carrying big, heavy shields and spears. There is no question in my mind that the Lord, and the priests, waited patiently a very long time.

Isn’t it astounding that the creator of the universe loves us so much that He will, and, He most often does, wait for us to cross safely to the other side regardless how long it takes?