Waiting on God’s Timing
Throughout May we are going to reflect on the attitude of the disciples as they waited for Christ’s promise—the coming of the Holy Spirit. We begin with the theme Waiting on God’s Timing.
This way of thinking is deeply rooted in the Old Testament. In Psalm 27:14 we read:
“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”
Or, as Eugene Peterson puts it so memorably:
“Take heart. Don’t quit. I’ll say it again: stay with God.”
We can begin to imagine the mindset of the disciples at that moment—still traumatised by the devastating loss of their Master, uncertain about the future, and unsure what waiting would really mean. Yet within that waiting we can notice three quiet but vital actions: finding comfort, remaining steadfast, and continuing to dwell in God.
Anyone who has ever gone for a long walk, climbed a hill, or tried to run farther than they planned knows that moment when everything in you wants to stop.
Your legs feel heavy. Your breathing becomes hard work. And a voice inside says, “This is enough. I can’t go on.”
Runners have a name for what can happen next—if they don’t stop. They call it the second wind. Nothing magical changes on the outside, but something shifts on the inside. The body adjusts. The breathing steadies. Strength you didn’t know you had suddenly appears.
But here’s the thing: the second wind only comes if you don’t quit at the first wall.
That is the moment the psalmist is speaking into:
“Take heart. Don’t quit. I’ll say it again: stay with God.”
Faith has moments like that too.
Prayer feels flat. Worship feels routine. The answers haven’t come. The burden hasn’t lifted. And the temptation is not always to stop believing—it is simply to drift, to loosen our grip, to sit down on the path.
But the psalmist doesn’t say, “Try harder.”
He doesn’t say, “Summon more faith.”
He says, “Stay with God.”
So when the road feels long, when discipleship feels costly, when the heart feels tired, Scripture offers a wonderfully simple word:
Take heart.
Don’t quit.
I’ll say it again: stay with God.
Because those who stay discover that God’s strength meets them on the other side of weariness.
Lord God,
when waiting feels hard and our strength feels small,
help us to take heart and not give up.
Teach us to trust your timing,
to remain steadfast,
and to stay with you even when the way ahead is unclear.
Renew us with your Spirit,
and grant us patience, courage, and hope,
as we wait for all that you have promised.
Amen.
