Waiting on God’s goodness
I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope. - Psalm 130:5
For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides You, who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him. - Isaiah 64:4
Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. - Psalm 37:7
I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope. - Psalm 130:5
I could list many more verses. Needless to say, the Bible is peppered with reminders to wait on the Lord. But what are we waiting for exactly?
We wait for the Lord to be who He says He is, we’re waiting for Him to be good. Now of course, He is good to begin with. It’s not as if we’re waiting for Him to fulfill His character. His character is intact regardless if we see or acknowledge it.
When we wait for God to be good, we’re waiting to see His goodness. To have a first-hand account of it.
Okay, if God is already good and we just have to see His goodness, why do we have to wait? And why is it so hard? I’ll start by saying that we live in a fallen world, run by sin. We’re wrapped in many things while here on earth. Instead of seeing our life as a vessel for God’s love, an extension to be used by Him for His purpose, we get roped into living a very individualistic life (particularly in the United States). And we get wrapped up in the good things God gave us here on earth. Work, family, hobbies, health, etc. All good things. But they often get shifted in importance.
I’m slowly building to my point, I hope you stay with me.
It all goes back to our primary loves. If we love God primarily, He will be our primary source of love, joy and contentment. Out of the strength we receive from Him, we build our life, family, work. Since our love isn’t sourced from within ourselves or the things around us, when those things go up or down, our strength remains steady in God’s never-changing love.
The more we attune our hearts to His, the more we see His goodness. The more centered God is in our life, the more we will wait and see God’s goodness.
We need to be still to see His goodness. We have to stop ourselves for a moment. Think of when you tell someone to be still, either your child, dog or rowdy coworker (jk?). Why do you tell them to be still? Because they are usually missing something, distracted by something else going around them. You want them to settle down and pay attention to what you need them to see. That’s what God is doing with us. He is basically saying, “I am already here. I am already good. You just need to slow down and see it.” But in order to see it, we must remove the distractions around us.
What are those distractions? Usually, it’s us. Our own expectations. You see, we already have an idea of what “good” means. Good means, a specific raise, a specific outcome you’re wanting to have in a relationship with your partner, family member or friend. It means getting a baby. Getting married to that person. Moving to that home. Being happy.
We already have preconceived ideas of what it means for God to be good. So, when we are “waiting for God”, we aren’t waiting for Him to be good in the definition He creates. We are waiting for God to be good in the way we define it.
And think about it. From a human perspective, “good” is subjective. ‘Good’ to a Hitler is very different from Mother Teresa's definition. And on a more relatable comparison, a good job to you may be a job from hell to someone else. A good time to have a baby may be someone else’ worst nightmare.
Who are we to say what is good when the Creator who made us defined it Himself? And since He is God, we can’t fully understand Him. Which is what makes waiting so hard. We wait in anguish most times. But we put our hope in the One who will never change.
As children, we believed that candy was always a good idea. From our little perspective, this was a non-negotiable fact. But from our parent(s) perspective, they knew better. They saw the long-term, global perspective. That good food would be good for your body and too much bad food is bad for your body. On a much, much larger scale, God has that global, eternal perspective that we cannot understand right now.
So we wait for Him, even if we don’t understand what He is doing. If we wait for other things than God to be good, they will always drain us. We can be fully confident that God will give us exactly what is good. What is good for His kingdom, what is perfectly good for you from an eternal perspective, not an earthly one.
Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary. - Isaiah 40:31
