“I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning.”
Psalm 130:5-6 (NIV)
After we have cast all our cares upon Jesus, and resolved to trust Him with all our concerns and requests, there is a waiting period. David wrote that he waits for the Lord with his whole being, putting all his hope in God’s word. I wondered if there is anyone in the stories of scripture who waited with their whole being, besides David, and there was. Her name was Rhoda.
When Peter was imprisoned and the disciples were fervently praying for a miraculous release, an angel came and appeared to Peter, walking him out of prison, putting all guards into a deep sleep. Peter didn’t have to do a single thing. The angel did all the work, and Peter walked up to the house where the disciples were currently praying for him.
When he knocked on the door, a woman named Rhoda was the first person to jump up and run to the door. She was overjoyed to see Peter standing at the door. She didn’t know how he escaped from prison, but she had been praying with the group, waiting and hoping with her whole being that their prayers would be answered.
She quickly told the others but no one believed her, telling her she was out of her mind. (Acts 12:15)
Although the disciples were praying for a miracle, they didn’t seem to expect one. I can’t criticize them because I have often found myself praying for a miracle, and still not truly expecting it. It seems to be easier to believe God for someone else’s miracle than for my own.
The scripture tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God, because He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
(Hebrews 11:6)
In Rhoda’s situation, diligently seeking God meant listening for the sounds of Peter’s footsteps or his knock on the door. Rhoda had hope that God would hear the prayers of all the believers, and bring Peter back. She waited in hope for the miracle that they all prayed for, and when it happened she was the first to hear Peter knocking and see him standing at the door.
David writes in this psalm that his whole being waits for the Lord, and all his hope is in God’s word. Whatever it means to wait for the Lord with our “whole being”, Rhoda had what David was talking about. Waiting with her whole being is why she jumped at the slightest sound of someone at the door. She had an enthusiastic faith, believing God is a rewarder of all who seek Him diligently.
Today, waiting with our whole being might mean expecting some good news about a medical test. When we ask God for a miracle, like Rhoda, we need to anticipate the answer, waiting and hoping with our whole being, that Jesus is with us and the answer is coming.
As we leave all our worries and doubts on the altar, trusting that God hears us, the next step is to tune our hearing in with hope for the knock on the door, a phone call, text message or an email, with the answer we have been hoping for.
I rarely experience such expectant faith but when Jon fell out of his bed last Saturday, and the nurse called me, I felt an inexplicable confidence and expectation that he would have no injuries from the fall.
Waiting with a sense of expectation, is a good thing. We expect Jesus to be present when we go to church. We expect Him to hear our prayers. We expect Him to speak to our hearts through the scriptures whether we are reading or hearing it read to us in church. Living with a sense of expectation as Rhoda had, is like adding wings to our faith.
Yesterday I picked up the disc of the CT scan of Jon’s brain and neck, that was performed the night he fell out of bed. I brought the disc to drop off at his surgeon’s office. Instead, they told me to wait and the surgeon will read it and give me results in person. I was called into the exam room and the surgeon told me that he was very happy with his CT results. There were no new injuries to the brain, and his enlarged ventricles even looked a slight bit smaller. Hearing the doctor’s good report in person was like seeing Jesus knocking on my door.
Lord, help us to wait for you with our whole being like David and Rhoda. Give us the grace of having faith with expectation, always looking for you to show up since you promised to be with us always. Amen