I stopped by the locker of a high-draft rookie who didn’t even make it to training camp. He blew his knee out during his rookie minicamp. Now, with his dreams of an NFL career on hold for a year, his face was draped with hopeless disappointment.

He was sidelined … facing months of tedious rehab while the team moved on without him. His game would have to wait. Being sidelined because of injury, benching, trade or transfer usually requires waiting – for healing, for a change or for a new opportunity.

King David penned some words of encouragement in Psalm 37:7. The word “rest” has the connotation of silence, of entrusting ourselves to God without argument or accusation.

Then David throws a curveball in the progression of the words of this verse.

The word “wait” is used several different ways in Psalms. The word used here for wait means “to turn in a circle, to writhe in pain or fear.” It was a word commonly used of a woman in labor as she endured the contractions of her baby’s delivery.

No matter how long a person has walked with God, waiting can result in struggling to trust God. Added to the difficulty of waiting is the feeling of discouragement or guilt for not handling adversity better as a follower of Jesus.

We often assume that trusting God is a peaceful and effortless task. Not so. Waiting on God can be a painful and trying time. If God is going to stretch our faith, He will take us to places where we do not handle it well. It is in this struggle that our faith grows.

David says to wait or struggle “patiently.” The need for patience implies that our situation may not change too soon.

When God is up to something good in our lives, it is rarely on our timetable. It is in the waiting that we get to know Him better.

Waiting is not empty time. Quality time in the Scriptures will help to set your heart and mind to maximize your current situation.

Tom Petersburg  | www.catapultministries.org