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On February 26, 2014 in Devotions by Kristi

{Trigger: Combat loss}

Word of a crash travels quickly in the aviation community.

On this particular Tuesday, I was fortunate enough to hear the news from my husband, which meant I also knew he was safe.

But grief still comes with relief, with the knowledge that somewhere, on six different doorsteps, two solemn uniformed soldiers are ringing the doorbell. Six lives changed in a horrible, irrevocable way. Six people waiting on a phone call that isnʼt coming.

Bear with me, I am going to go a little backwards here. I want to tell you about Psalm 27, a psalm characterized by Matthew Henry as being, “Expressive of the pious and devout affections with which gracious souls are carried out towards God at all times, especially in times of trouble.”

And oh, in this life there is trouble.

Verse 14 tells us to wait. Speciﬁcally, “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart, and wait for the Lord.”

We wait on the Lord, but the stark truth is we donʼt always get the answer we want--healing, prosperity, life. But friends, that does not void the promises made in His inerrant Word. We are not abandoned. We are loved. We are FORGIVEN. We are known. And He works all things for the good of those who love Him.

And while we wait, may this be what we seek:

One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.
For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
and set me high upon a rock {Psalm 27:4-5}.

“The gracious presence of God, his power, his promise, his readiness to hear prayer, the witness of his Spirit in the hearts of his people—these are the secrets of his tabernacle, and in these the saints ﬁnd cause for that holy security and serenity of mind in which they dwell at ease. This sets them upon a rock which will not sink under them, but on which they ﬁnd ﬁrm footing for their hopes; nay, it sets them up upon a rock on high, where the raging threatening billows of a stormy sea cannot touch them; it is a rock that is higher than we” {Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible}.

So we wait, we rest, we cling tight to the promises that are true even in the darkest days. And sisters, I know there are days, weeks, months even that the knowledge of His promises must carry us through the treachery of our despairing hearts. What we know is not what we feel.

“Those that wait upon the Lord have reason to be of good courage” {Matthew Henry}.

Reflection

What does it mean to “wait on the Lord?” What should your attitude be while you wait?

How easy is it for you to remember God’s promises during times of heartache? Why?

What is your typical response when you don’t get the answer from God that you were hoping for? What does God want for you during those times?

Prayer

Father, give me the strength to wait on You in my times of heartache and fear. Let Your Spirit remind me of Your promises. I believe that You are good, and that You love me. I trust You as my safe dwelling, my shelter, my Rock. Amen.

Molly Huggins (All The Grace Between) is an Army bride, one-time helicopter pilot, compulsive writer, friend seeker, and lover of color and all things textile. Her current occupation is ringmaster of the Huggins family circus (party of five). She has a B.A. in English from Covenant College and a passion for meeting other women right in the middle of their own messy stories. Pull up a chair at her virtual beat-up kitchen table, listen to her stories, and maybe even tell her yours.

Tagged With: deployment, faith, Jesus, loss, military spouse, military wife, Psalms, wait, milspouse

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