Psalms 37:7

An Israeli named Uzzah lost his life because he “reached out and took hold of the ark of God” (2 Samuel 6:6). He placed his hands on it with the best of intentions—to steady it, “because the oxen stumbled” (2 Samuel 6:6)—but nevertheless, he had overstepped his bounds by touching the Lord’s work, and “therefore God struck him down” (2 Samuel 6:7). Living a life of faith often requires us to leave things alone.

If we have completely entrusted something to God, we must keep our hands off it. He can guard it better than we can, and He does not need our help. “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes” (Psalm 37:7).

It is easier to work than to wait. It is often more important to wait than to work. We can trust God to do the needed working while we are waiting; but if we are not willing to wait, and insist upon working while He would have us be still, we may interfere with the effective and triumphant working that He would do in our behalf. Our waiting may be the most difficult thing we can do; it may be the severest test that God can give us.

Oswald Chambers has said truly: one of the greatest strains in life is the strain of waiting for God. God takes the saint like a bow which He stretches; we get to a certain point and say I cannot stand any more, but God goes on stretching. He is not aiming at our mark but at His own, and the patience of the saints is that we hold on until He lets the arrow fly straight to His goal. If we are willing to remember God’s call and assurance, there need be no strain at all while we are waiting. The stretched bow time may be a time of unbroken rest for us as we are “still before the LORD and wait patiently for him” (Psalm 37:7).

The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.—Rest in the Lord .—He that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works.

Sit still, my daughter.

Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted.—Be still, and know that I am God.—Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?—The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.

Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies?—I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.

Shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.—Wait on the Lord, and he shall save thee.—Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

Someday we will understand that God has a reason behind every no He gives us through the course of our lives. Yet even in this life, He always makes it up to us. When God’s people are worried and concerned that their prayers are not being answered, how often we have seen Him working to answer them in a far greater way! Occasionally we catch a glimpse of this, but the complete revelation of it will not be seen until later.

If God says yes to our prayer, dear heart, And the sunlight is golden, the sky is blue, While the smooth road beckons to me and you, And songbirds are singing as on we go, Pausing to pick the flowers at our feet, Stopping to drink of the streams that we meet, Happy, more happy, our journey will grow, If God says yes to our prayer, dear heart.

Have you prayed and prayed, and waited and waited, and still you see no evidence of an answer? Are you tired of seeing no movement? Are you at the point of giving up? Then perhaps you have not waited in the right way, which removes you from the right place—the place where the Lord can meet you.

“Wait for it patiently” (Romans 8:25). Patience eliminates worry. The Lord said He would come, and His promise is equal to His presence.