While We Wait…
There’s little doubt that the most challenging aspect of standing for marriage restoration is waiting, so it’s VERY important for us to learn how to turn our time of waiting into something useful and productive for the praise and glory of the Lord. And the best way to do that is to stay focused on what the Lord puts before us to do EACH day in obedience to Him. When we don’t know what else to do, thanks to His word, we DO know what it takes to be obedient. And if we get up every morning with a determination to be obedient to what we know He wants us to do THAT DAY, with absolute confidence that’s what it takes for His will and plan for our lives to be perfected, we can make our time of waiting a lot more joyful than dreadful!
More than likely, none of us could seriously say that our circumstances are nearly as despairing as Job’s, yet in Job 14:14, even he said If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come. > And Psalm 37:34 assures us that the Lord WILL exalt us and deliver us, and our marriages, from Satan’s intended destruction if we wait and do things HIS way, because it says Wait for the LORD and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it. Then Psalm 119:166 says I wait for your salvation, O LORD, and I follow your commands. So God obviously expects us to live and walk in obedience to His word while we’re waiting for HIM to restore our marriages, which is confirmed in Isaiah 26:8, which says Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. So that brings us right back to the point that during our time of waiting, the Lord EXPECTS us to live our lives in obedience to His word with a desire and purpose to bring praise and glory to His name. And it’s not insignificant that the counsel found in Psalm 37:7, which says Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
Perhaps the following passages of scripture will give us a better idea of the attitude the Lord expects from us while we’re waiting, as well as the encouragement we need while we wait for HIM to restore our marriages:
Romans 8:25
But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
Psalm 5:3
In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.
Psalm 130:5
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.
Micah 7:7
But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Psalm 33:20
We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.
Isaiah 30:18
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!
Isaiah 64:4
Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.
Romans 8:18-21
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
1 Corinthians 4:5
Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
Titus 2:12-14
It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
Hebrews 9:28
so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
James 5:7
Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.
Hebrews 6:15
And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.