Psalm 130:5-6 The busy soul must wait

Psalm 130:5-6 “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than
watchmen for the morning.”

I recently moved and in that move I found that I had more than what I
thought I had. People usually finds this sort of thing to be true when
they move as well. All sorts of hidden or lost treasures come to light. In
my case however I found something else after I moved. I found that I had
not the distractions I previously had. Oh certainly I still had work to go
to. I still had the body of believers to be involved with. I still had
books to read, but I had more time to do everything in. I was amazed at
how much of my time I suddenly found that I had and I wondered where all
this time suddenly came from. After much thinking and searching I realized
that I no longer had a television set and “my shows” to watch. I did not
have internet access and so I was unable to keep track of the various
blogs I read, the various websites I frequented, the social networking
sites and reading and writing comments on various postings by those I was
acquainted with. My life had become less busy!

Slowly, surely, quietly, incessantly, millimeter by millimeter things had
crept into my life. I had become busy with all sorts of things that
distracted me and stole what time I thought I had. My day became filled
with meaningless routine, and when I moved I discovered this. Busy-ness
has this nasty habit and it finds everyone equally susceptible to it. We
find that we must rush and hurry from appointment to appointment. Our day
is spent running hectically to and fro taking care of all the little
problems that seem so big in our lives. Busy-ness, that insidious demand
of our time prevents us from waiting for the Lord. Certainly we may do
wonderful things for God with our lives but we no longer take the time to
wait because we don't have the time to wait anymore.

We need to somehow keep part of our day clear for us to wait for the Lord.
So oftentimes we go charging on ahead down the path of life neglecting the
fact that our guide, the only one who knows where we are going, is now
behind us. He knows the dangers and the traps in the road and we don't. We
just get in such a hurry to get there that we get impatient and think that
we can hurry up our Leader if we just charge ahead. We forget how many
times He has taken this road and how well He knows it. He holds back for a
reason. He knows us better than we know ourselves and we must wait for Him
to lead us and show us the way. Often times when we do so, we find that He
is constantly showing us some of the wonders on the path. He wants to show
us the robin's eggs hatching over in that tree, or the fox and her pups
basking in the sunlight in that glade. He wants to show us the beauty of
the sunlight rippling over the waterfall just over there, and to let us
smell the sweet honeysuckle at this place.

Please, let us resist the temptation to be busy and instead learn to wait
and be still. When we do this, we shall find that our journey seems
smoother. The psalmist tells us to “wait for the Lord, be strong and let
your heart take courage, wait for the Lord.” (Psalm 27:14). So let us wait
and be patient for the Lord to show us the way. I promise to help
encourage you to slow down and wait and you can promise to do the same for
me.

Nearer, still nearer, close to Thy heart,
Draw me, my Saviour, so precious Thou art!
Fold me, O fold me close to Thy breast.
Shelter me safe in that “Haven of Rest,”
Shelter me safe in that “Haven of Rest.”