Quietly Waiting

The Sapphire Review Vol. 1 | No. 7 • June 18, 2024

Reflection

There are times in life where God requires us to wait for Him. We see from this week’s verse that it is good for a person to go through these times of waiting. This verse also speaks to more than just simply waiting. It says that it is good to “quietly wait.”

Quietly waiting is not always easy and it is not a trait with which we are innately born. The Hebrew word for “quietly waiting” (דוּמָ֔ם du-mam, H1748) literally means to be silent or motionless. This is a state of complete surrender to the sovereignty of God in our lives and circumstances. This is a state of complete rest, free from all angst, nervousness, discouragement, fear, grumbling, and effort. This is a place where we carry any personal desire that we may have upon our daily cross.¹

If it is not God’s will for our lives, we must be willing to lose and let go of that which we are seeking. Additionally, we must be willing to wait however many days, months, or years that God may require of us before providing the answer to that which we have requested of Him. Often times, we may endure a variety of challenges, disappointments, and persecutions that, if we are not careful, would seek to dislodge us from our place of quietly waiting.²

The story of Joseph beautifully presents the theme of waiting for God’s timing. In Psalm 105:19 we read the following regarding him:

Until the time that his word came: The word of the LORD tried him.

Object Lesson

The Lord reminded me of this spiritual principle during the last two weeks through an object lesson involving my truck.

The area where I live had just gone through a series of flash flooding events. These came right on the heels of the tornado that I wrote about previously. I can’t remember the last time that I saw the ground as saturated as it was following all of the buckets of rain which continued to fall day after day.

I was doing some work with my kids in the back part of my land. Despite the softness of the ground, with my truck in four-wheel drive, I was able to maneuver my way around the pasture. I made several trips, without much difficulty. I was always careful of where I stopped, so I wouldn’t lose momentum in a particularly muddy area.

There is one part of the pasture that is lower than the rest. Whenever it rains, this place is always the last to dry up; often many days or weeks after the rest of the pasture is dry. Finally, on what turned out to be my last trip, I was dragging something through this area of the pasture. Because I was now pulling something behind me, I lost my normal momentum in the soggy area and my truck came to a complete stop.

I knew I was in trouble at this point. Four-wheel drive was no help. Nothing I tried was going to work. The truck would end up sinking down to its axles. I knew that God was wanting to illustrate a spiritual truth to me through this experience. As I thought about my situation, Lamentations 3:25-26 came to mind.

My initial thought was that perhaps God might be wanting me to simply wait until the ground was dry before trying to get my truck out. However, I decided to go back the next day and see if perhaps I had misunderstood what I thought He was showing me. I grabbed a shovel and began digging trenches around the truck to reroute all the muddy water that it was now standing in. I began digging out all around the wheels so that I could put sticks and stones around the tires. During my zeal to carry out this work by my own strength, I hurt my back. When I tried to drive the truck out again, it only sank further into the mud. I was again reminded of Lamentations 3:25-26 and the spiritual principle that God was trying to bring out through this experience.

A couple more days went by, and parts of the pasture were now dry. The area where my truck was located had now dried some as well. However, the ground was still quite soft and muddy around it. I thought that perhaps now would be the time that God would permit me to drive it out, but only after I dug a bit more and placed a few more needed sticks around the tires. This time, I was able to move the truck slightly, but it still remained stuck.

I concluded that I wasn’t exactly waiting quietly by trying to help God expedite the process. At this point, I knew I simply needed to wait, however long it took, for the ground to properly dry around the truck. Then, when God saw fit for this appointed time to occur, I would be able to simply drive my truck out without any of my exhaustive efforts in trying to move things along.

So I not only waited, but “quietly waited” for this day to come. Again, a few more days went by, and by this point my truck had now been stuck in the back of the pasture for over a week. Then, I sat down to work on this week’s email, thinking about how I couldn’t write on this topic while my truck remained stuck. As long as it remained stuck, the object lesson remained unfinished.

I decided to go check one last time, committing the matter to God. If I was going to be able to write on this lesson this week (or even at all), I would need to be able to drive the truck right out of its current position, without any shovels, sticks, rocks, or calling for someone to pull it out. It must be done without any help from my own efforts or from the efforts of others.

As I surveyed the area, the ground was now dry all around the truck. Though there was still some mud directly underneath the truck, the ground by the tires was dry. Due to how far down it had sunk, I knew it was still questionable as to whether I’d even be able to drive it out on dry ground. Nevertheless, I decided to try.

To my surprise I was able to gain enough traction to back up a few feet. This allowed me to get enough momentum going forward to get out of the ruts. I rejoiced and thanked God as I drove back up to my house. As I drove I was reminded of the following proverb:

Hope deferred maketh the heart sick:

But when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

Proverbs 13:12

Thoughts

All my labors had failed, and I finally submitted myself to a place of quietly waiting for God to deliver me from my predicament. As a result, my joy was greater, and more praise was lifted to God than there would have been if I had been able to get the truck out much earlier or by my own efforts.

This application with the truck does not compare to some of the most difficult trials that we face in life. However, the lesson remains the same, and the truck provides a good illustration of that lesson. I have seen God prevail through many difficult circumstances while I quietly waited upon His deliverance.

Herein lies a principle that God teaches us at various times throughout our lives: it is good for a person to quietly wait upon the LORD. Waiting for a time that He has appointed for something in our lives… though it may seem to tarry from our standpoint, it will not tarry beyond God’s appointed time… so we must wait for it. We learn in these times that all our personal efforts are useless and may even make matters worse. If the Lord has called us to wait, wait we must. There is a great blessing to be found at the end of the waiting period for those that bring their bodies into subjection of the quiet waiting for God’s help and timing.³

Prayer

May God help us to be quick to learn and embrace this principle of quietly waiting. He knows what is best for us, and He knows the right times to bring about answers to our prayers. May our labors and efforts cease in trying to help God move things along when He has asked us to wait. May we remain in a place of peaceful, silent, contentment while we wait for the appointed times to come.

God Bless,

Charles

Scripture Index

1. Luk 9:23.

2. Luk 5:11, 14:33.

3. Psa 37:7,9, 40:1, 130:5; Isa 49:23; Hab 2:3.