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“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord (Psalm 27:14).”

We ain’t good at waiting, are we? How patient are you when it comes to sitting in traffic? How patient are you when it comes to standing in line to check out? Picture that same line at the store but with a cashier who is struggling to do the tasks correctly or timely and the person with a cart full in the 10 items or less lane with 3 “kids” screaming and jumping and acting a fool. How. Patient. Are. You?

What about when you really want something… are you patient enough to wait? Have you ever noticed both in your personal life, the life of those you know, heck… even in the life of biblical characters… we know we should wait. We read that we should wait. But, by golly, we just can’t.

Most of us ain’t known for patience. I read a sign recently that said, “It’s hard to hear Gods voice when you’ve already decided what you want Him to say.” Wait for the Lord. Be strong. Take heart. Wait for the Lord.

Author Richard Hendrix said, “Second only to suffering, waiting may be the greatest teacher and trainer in godliness, maturity and genuine spirituality most of us ever encounter.”

In his book, Sabbatical Journeys, Henri Nouwen writes about some friends of his who were trapeze artists – They were called “the Flying Roudellas.”

They told Nouwen there’s a special relationship between flyer and catcher on the trapeze. The flyer is the one that lets go, and the catcher is the one that catches. As the flyer swings high above the crowd on the trapeze, the moment comes when he or she must let go. He arcs out into the air – his job is to remain as still as possible and wait for the strong hands of the catcher to pluck him from the air.

One of the Flying Roudellas told Nouwen, “The flyer must never try to catch the catcher.” The flyer must wait in absolute trust. The catcher will catch him, but he must wait. Psalm 33:20 says, “We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.”

So it is in our relationship with God — we must never try to catch the catcher. We must just wait in absolute trust — God will catch us if we wait.

But if we try to help Him out, we could end up falling flat on our faces. So we must wait on Him who hears and sees us. It’s the only way to fly! It’s the only way to experience all that God has for us.

Rev. J. Cameron Bailey is pastor of Kenbridge Christian Church. He can be reached at jamescameronbailey@gmail.com.