Waiting on the Lord - iBelieve Truth: A Devotional for Women - September 23

Waiting on The Lord
By: Chelsey DeMatteis 

“Oh, taste and see that The Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! - Psalm 34:8

A few weeks ago, I hung up the phone in a way I wasn’t anticipating. It was the type of call where I hung up, shook my head and wondered, “what on earth happened? How can something get so miscommunicated?”

I had a wave of anxiety, sadness, and fear wash over me. For me, the biggest issue that comes from miscommunication in my life is that it sends me in a tailspin of trying to figure out what went wrong and how can I fix it. It's hard to admit but it's an unfortunate flaw in me.

If an outsider were looking in on me during one of these moments, they might even wonder if I remember my good friend, Jesus! How odd is that I live for Jesus and serve Christ and His kingdom, yet my life could tell a different story if seen from that perspective.

I’m sure you’ve been there with me before - one moment you’re on your knees in prayer and the next moment you put on your cape believing the lie that you are superwoman and can figure this wavering life out.

Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.” My heart has had to hang out with the “taste and see” part for a while.

Taste happens quickly, seeing is a choice that may result in waiting. I recently read somewhere that the average person will only wait 5 seconds for a screen to load on their computer or phone before moving on. 5 seconds. That blew my mind but was convictingly true. This habit of instant everything has unfortunately correlated with the way I can sometimes think the Lord should work too. If He doesn’t give me His answer in 5 seconds, the next thing I know I’m making a choice that I think best fits His character. This teaches a-lot about the sinful human heart. We can get caught up believing we can manipulate the character of God to fit the desire we want, even if it’s an “okay” thing. We’ve all done this, if not in big things, then I’m positive in the small.

For me this choice of “thinking” I know what God wants from me is completely different than having that peace in your soul that only comes from confirmation in The Lord. These choices of quick thinking always do more harm than good. While God certainly has used them to teach me things, it sometimes makes things relationally tricky. The person at the end of the phone call from a few weeks ago would probably tell you that the result of my “thinking” I heard from the Lord has caused her heartache and stress. This wrecks me and I’m sure it’s wrecked you. Praise God though, this is where we see our fragile, fickle thinking meeting the grace and mercy of God. Within our broken, rushed choices, He still loves us enough to use them to teach us something.

When we don’t wait upon the Lord, we’re not seeking Him as our refuge and all-knowing Father. We’re seeking our own hearts’ desires which aren’t always God’s. We race ahead and hope He’ll be there at the finish line.

He will be, I can promise you that, but there’s going to be consequence waiting too. Having the security in Christ as our refuge means we’re spiritually discerning that we’re aligning all our desires with Him. Psalm 34:8 wraps up with, “Blessed is the man that takes refuge in Him."

I don’t want to miss out on the blessings of what God wants to do in my life because I’m too busy trying to figure everything out on my own. I don’t want to be the woman who can’t wait longer than 5 seconds in regard to big choices that effect the kingdom of God, because all moments matter from a Kingdom perspective. I don’t want to go grabbing for my superwoman cape each time The Lord’s response takes longer than I expect. What I want more than anything is a heart that remembers in hard moments you and I cannot take refuge in ourselves. I want a heart tethered to the words, “Taste and see that The Lord is good” and I pray this for you, too.

You can find more from Chelsey on her website, https://www.chelseydematteis.com/.

Related Resource: Instead of Doing More This Summer, Maybe You Need to Do Less

If you've been feeling tired, overwhelmed, depleted, or just quietly wondering where God is in the middle of a very full life — this episode is for you. And honestly? It might be for me too, because I'm recording this in one of those seasons myself.

Today we're doing something a little different. Instead of going deep in a passage, we're talking about what to do when deep feels like too much — when you need less, not more. Specifically, I'm walking you through one of my favorite practices for weary seasons: handwriting scripture.

Not typing it. Not scrolling past it. Actually writing it out, slowly, in your own hand — because something happens in your brain when you do that. The words land differently. They go deeper. And over time, they become part of that personal library of God's voice that the Holy Spirit can pull from when you need it most. That's what Psalm 119:11 means when it says I have hidden your word in my heart — it's scripture moving into your long-term memory, where it lives and stays even when you haven't opened your Bible in weeks.

I'm sharing the five verses I wrote out for myself today — and why each one hit me fresh even though I've known some of them for years. This episode is part of our How to Study the Bible Podcast, a show that brings life back to reading the Bible and helps you understand even the hardest parts of Scripture. If this episode helps you know and love God more, be sure to follow the How to Study the Bible Podcast on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!