05/11/2026
Do we stand at the ready, listening for God’s voice? Do we wait upon the Lord in this manner? We know instinctively that God is with us always, but sometimes we forget that He isn’t just there to serve us... He is also waiting to hear our voice. When we cry out to Him, when we joyfully sing to Him, when our pain and suffering leave our mouths like sorrowful moans... He waits for us. As we speak to Him in proper prayer He responds with mercy, grace, and yes, judgement too.
“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.”
Isaiah 30:18 ESV
I remember the nights Ann and I spent listening for our kids when they were babies. I must admit that Ann’s ear was keener than mine, and quite often she would nudge me and say, “go get the baby”, but we would listen for the slightest sound from the crib. If any of our children stirred we would awaken, but if they made a cry we went to them straightway, and would stand outside their door until they called out again. We were waiting on them day and night. God’s ear is attuned to our sounds and movements in the same way.
“O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?”
Psalms 139:1-7 ESV
So it is that God waits on us, and He hears our every cry, but He is patient and awaits our prayers... He stands by us and listens for that second cry which is to Him a call to action. Then His wisdom, mercy, and judgement comes into play as we wait on Him to lift us up.
You might be put off by the word judgement, but our God is just, and often in the midst of suffering and crying out to Him we might hear Him say such things as “go ask forgiveness of them”, or “cast that desire off from you.” Sure, we would like to receive instant relief, but our Father is a teacher and instructs us in the midst of our suffering. He opens our eyes to sins we might not have seen in ourselves.
“No one who seeks to learn the blessed art of waiting on God should be surprised if at first the attempt to wait on Him only reveals more sin and darkness.” – Pastor Andrew Murray
Only when we have heard His voice and done what He has asked can we wait in true obedience for Him to lift us into His arms and give us comfort. We must reconcile ourselves before God... purge the sin through Christ, and seek His grace, mercy, and forgiveness. Then, although He heard our very first whimper in the night... His answer will only come to us following our expression of contrition, the name of Jesus, and in the light of our restored righteousness.
“Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us; we hope for light, and behold, darkness, and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.”
Isaiah 59:9 ESV
Today we might be in turmoil, or suffering in some way, and have called out to God in prayer, but perhaps we still find ourselves waiting on His provision when we should be listening and waiting on something else... His voice. Just maybe He is asking us to make a correction, and yet we find ourselves deaf to that in the midst of our troubles. Is our Holy Father asking something of us? Is there something we need to confess and make right?
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”
James 5:16 ESV
So, as we wait upon the Lord, He also waits upon us. He waits on our voice calling to him in prayer, and then He waits on our obedience to His will and those things He brings to our attention. If we are waiting, and have been waiting for quite some time, we need to open our mouths in prayer and say “here I am Father, what would you have me do”, then listen, and be obedient. We might just find a lesson standing between us and the answer we so desire.
“Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.”
1 John 3:21-22 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for waiting upon me, and hearing my prayers in times of strife. I thank you Lord for the corrections that come in my struggles in life, and in my quest for righteousness. I know Holy Father that your mercy abounds and that your grace, as revealed through Jesus Christ, knows no limit. So, help me as I cry out and wait upon you for relief; show me my iniquities, and teach me to overcome them... that my waiting on your mercy might come to an end, and that I might bask in your grace and forgiveness made possible by your Son Jesus. You are good, and your Word is true. Praised be your name my God, for Holy, Holy, Holy, are you, and sure is your provision for me in the midst of this life and beyond.
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Hebrews 4:16 ESV
Amen!
Rich Forbes