"Wait On The Lord"

"They that fear thee will be glad when they see me; because I have hoped in thy word." (Psalms 119:74)

 Before we get too far into this, I thought it best to slow down a little and smell the roses, as some might say. You might have heard this before, but sheep are led by the Shepherd, they are not driven. Surprising how that works, because the more driven we are to do something, more more we need to pay attention to what might be motivating us to move forward. The word for "hoped" is a word that speaks more about waiting than it does of actually hopping for something. Actually, it speaks of expecting, as if the hope you do have is based upon the expectation that something is going to happen, or that there is going to be more to come. If I could put it in a way that might be easy to understand, it would be that we wait for God to have the first move! Whatever that might imply, to whatever something God has put upon your heart, God will always make the first move, in some form or fashion. We might not even know what kind of sign or action it might be, but if God is calling you to do something, then it will obvious when it happens. Besides, we never want to get ahead of the Lord when it comes to serving Him. No servant will ever take over for his master; servants will always wait to be instructed what to do; that way, if it messes up, it not your fault! We are to be led by the Lord, not driven! Jesus asked all of His followers, "Come follow Me." As His sheep we need to follow the Good Shepherd and learn to hear His voice. There are a lot of different voices out there, but there is only one that matters, especially in matters that pertain to doing anything for the Lord. There is also another message that is being put forth here, which is that of being patient. If there is something that needs to be worked on in my life, it is my ability to be patient and give people my full attention. Whatever it is, it does't matter, I seem to find something else to think about when I should be giving them my full attention. Maybe that's just me, but I tell you what, if God listens to my prayers the way I listen to someone else sharing their heart with me, then I need to worry. When it comes to doing anything for the Lord, His word needs to be first and foremost. Looking at this from the direction of ministry, if we have the ability to bless others with the way we can listen and give an encouraging word, people will be glad to see us and share their hearts with us. Isn't that the way it is meant to be? Four simple words: Stay in the moment...

"Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he did for me. For I cried out to him for help, praising him as I spoke. If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer or withdraw his unfailing love from me." (Psalms 66:16-20) NLT