11/28/2021
November 28
Straining to See
My eyes strain to see your deliverance, to see the truth of your promise fulfilled. I am your servant; deal with me in unfailing love, and teach me your principles.
Psalm 119:123-124
Have you ever strained to see God’s deliverance? We yearn to see his promises fulfilled. We long for his answer. Perhaps you desire to see your son turn from an empty lifestyle and crown Jesus as Lord. You may long for God to restore health to someone for whom you’ve been praying or to open the doors to joy in your marriage. The Bible is full of people who strained to see God’s deliverance and his promises fulfilled. There were twenty-five years between God’s promise of a son to Abraham and Sarah and the fulfillment of that promise. Hannah agonized and waited for the son she longed for until God gave her Samuel. Joseph waited through long periods of struggle until God finally fulfilled the dream he had given him years before.
There can be periods of waiting for us as well—not as long, we hope, as the one Abraham experienced! In those waiting times, our faith is sorely tested. We get impatient. We are given to doubt and despair. But in that very weakness and testing, we can look to God to deal lovingly with us and give us trust and patience as we wait on him.
LORD, my eyes strain to see your deliverance and to see the truth of your promises fulfilled! Strengthen me in those places where I get weary of waiting. In your loving-kindness, renew my flagging trust in you. Deal with me in your unfailing love and compassion, and teach me day by day to trust in you and your principles even while I am in the waiting rooms of life.
O Lord my God! . . . We understand nature’s seasons; we know how to wait for the fruit we long for. Fill us with the assurance that You won’t delay one moment longer than is necessary, and that our faith will hasten the answer.
Andrew Murray (1828–1917)
The One Year Bible Readings for today are Daniel 5:1-31; 2 Peter 2:1-22; Psalm 119:113-128 and Proverbs 28:19-20.
