“Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the word of his servant? Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on their God. But now, all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you shall receive from my hand: You will lie down in torment. ” (Isaiah 50:10).

I heard something that specially caught my attention in a sermon recently. Do I trust in God’s activity or His identity. In other words, do I trust more what I see Him doing in my life or do I trust more in Who I know Him to be, based on how He has revealed Himself to me through Scripture and my own past experiences? As the old saying goes, when you can’t see His hand, trust His heart. There’s some truth to that.

So when God seems distant and silent and still, am I confident enough in Who He has declared Himself to be to wait? Will I actively wait, all the while preparing myself to receive what He’s preparing for me? Or will I try scheme and manipulate and coerce God’s plan to fit into my own timetable?

Sometimes I’m able to wait well. Sometimes I am just as crafty and conniving as a Jacob. Sometimes, I am like Abraham and Sarah, who thought they would “help” God out concerning His promise for a son for them. I know what torment that can bring to my own soul. How much unrest and inner turmoil can result. How many sleepless nights are the result.

God has proven Himself faithful to me many, many times. I know He is good and He is able to fulfill all He promised to me. I know He is able to do far above anything I could ask or imagine (and I have a pretty big imagination). I just don’t always wait well. Especially when I wait with no visible reward or result.

I say to me and to you to trust in God’s character more than what you perceive of His activity. I have found that the wait is always worth it and no time spent waiting is ever wasted. And more than anything I could ever recieve from His hand, getting to know God and His heart is the best part of the whole deal.

So I will continue to wait. And trust. And believe.