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Kings Trust Ministries - One Day At A Time
Waiting on the Lord with joy
1 Samuel 1:18
"And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad."

Hannah so badly wanted a child, but the scripture says that the Lord kept Hannah from having a child. Her heart and soul was extremely sore concerning this. She lost her joy for life; she even lost her appetite for food. One day in the temple she cried out in desperation to the Lord. A priest, Eli, heard her and prayed that the Lord be merciful and grant her heart’s desire. She left the temple that day with a new attitude of heart, an attitude of quite trust. In her heart was a deep peace and an attitude of praise. Immediately she regained her appetite and ate a meal and went about her daily life joyfully as she waited for the Lord to do the miracle in her life.

The Lord also kept Sarah (Abraham’s wife) from having children. After many years of waiting for God to open her womb, Sarah, feeling desperate to provide a child for Abraham, decided to make a plan and suggested to Abraham that he take her maidservant and have a child with her. Of course we know that wasn’t part of God’s plan and so much bitterness and hardship came into Sarah’s life when Ishmael was born. Even after the promised child ‘Isaac’ was born to Sarah, she endured much heartache because of the maidservant and the boy Ishmael.

Here is a picture of two women, both kept by God from having children, yet having received a promise from God that he would prove Himself faithful, they had to wait for the miracle. The difference was their attitude of heart while they waited.

At times we may be faced with the challenge of having to wait for something for which we are praying and hoping for. The encouragement is that while we wait, let us do so with the right attitude of heart. Like Hannah, even while we are waiting we can live each day with the peace and assurance that the Lord is in control and that He will provide our daily bread in His time, in His way and in His perfect will. We don't need to make our own way like Sarah, all we need to do is to trust and not waver in our belief and to continue worshipping and rejoicing while we wait..... no matter how long it takes!

That’s the challenge. God does not always answer our prayer in one day, one week or even one year. It could be a long wait. So are we in for the wait? Be encouraged today to keep rejoicing as you trust and wait for the Lord, one day at a time and only by the Grace of God.

Psalm 27:14 - "Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD."

Additional scripture for reading:
Genesis 49:18; Psalm 40:1; Psalm 62:5; Psalm 130:5; 2 Thessalonians 3:5