The psalmist concluded Psalm 33 with these words, "We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you (Psalm 33:20-22)." Walking in faith in the Lord includes trusting and waiting. We cannot say we are walking in faith in the Lord when we do not trust Him, and we cannot say we trust our Lord if we are not willing to wait. But when we wait, we have a hope that God will answer our prayers according to His purpose and plan in our lives. There is no such thing as blind faith. Blind faith means whatever happens, happens. However, having faith in God means that we believe in our hearts without a shadow of a doubt that God is at work in our situation. We accept His answer, whether yes, no, or wait. Whatever his answer, it is good for us. We may not know the reasons at that time, but we know that God loves us and He is always good to us.
Waiting for the answer to our prayers means that we are not waiting with no assurance that God is working in our prayers. The strength of our hope in our waiting is based on how much we trust God. If we trust God's goodness to us, we can wait as long as it takes. If we have faith in our hearts that Jesus is our Lord and Savior, it means that we hold on to the promise of God that we become God's children. And as God's children, God will never abandon, leave, or forsake. God will take care of us forever. As a result, we have hope that will never be shattered. And so when we wait, it is based on the hope that we have in God. When we experience doubt in our minds and hearts, we need to remind ourselves of the hope that we have in the Lord. The hope that God is our help and our shield (protector) because of His unfailing love towards us. The more we trust God, the more we hope in God.
The wonderful promise that God has for us is that even when we feel like losing hope, God will still carry us through. He will always be on our side, even when our faith is weak. In the end, everything will work out for those who believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and this is the hope that we have. We are willing to wait as long as it takes because we trust in the goodness of God.
Ask yourself these questions for application: (Think through carefully and meditate on the questions while answering them, and let the Spirit of God speak to you). What does it mean to have hope in God? Why is waiting and trusting an important part of my spiritual journey with God? What does God promise me even when I am in doubt and feeling hopeless?
Write down all the worries you face today and lift them up to God.
Prayer:
Father in Heaven, thank you for your unfailing love towards me. Please help me to continue to grow in my faith in you so that I may wait in hope. You are my help and protection. Please help me to trust you in my waiting. In your name, Lord Jesus, I pray. Amen.