Hope in the Lord

hope_rises_Living in the Spirit
August 5, 2015

Scripture Reading: Psalm 130

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
   Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
   to the voice of my supplications!  

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
   Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you,
   so that you may be revered.  

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
   and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
   more than those who watch for the morning,
   more than those who watch for the morning.  

O Israel, hope in the Lord!
   For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
   and with him is great power to redeem.
It is he who will redeem Israel
   from all its iniquities.

I am not a patient person. When I wait on the Lord, I fear, I do not do it with as much hospitality as God desires or deserves. My guess is when I am waiting on the Lord to do what I want, the Lord is waiting on me to figure out what I want is neither just nor right for the situation at hand. At the point I perceive the fallacy of my way, God shows me a better way.

As one who spent most of my career facilitating long-range planning, I learned early that there are as many ways of accomplishing something as there are people charged to make it happen. I usually had clear vision regarding plans to address issues about which I did not have a personal stake and could help the people involved see the ways they could weave their diverse approaches into productive outcomes. It is often our personal stakes that foster impatience and the need to wait on God in the first place. Those personal stakes may be spot on. After all, the people who know the subject matter better than most are the ones working to address it. Implementing change to bring about justice, however, does not occur in a vacuum. Change would not be necessary if we all shared the same viewpoint on an issue. Implementing change demands our seeing the world from a broader perspective.

When we turn to God and wait patiently for God to open our hearts and minds to a better way, we will find our hope in God’s love is well invested.

Prayer: Lord, help me to see and remove the log in my own eye limiting my vision toward understanding your way in working with others. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.