Daily Devotional - Learn to Wait on God

Therefore return to your God! Holdfast to love and mercy, to righteousness and justice, and wait [expectantly] for your God continually! 
—Hosea 12:6

When Judas betrayed Jesus, He had insight to know what Judas was doing, but He just stood there and let him continue with his greeting, his embrace, and his kiss. Then in Matthew 26:50, Jesus said to him, Friend . . . (You ought to circle the word friend in your Bible.) Knowing that Judas was betraying Him, He still called him, Friend, for what are you here? Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and arrested Him. Peter, ready to defend Jesus drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. Whack! Old lion-like Peter was full of fleshly zeal. He whipped out that sword and chopped off his ear. You know what Peter was thinking? "Bless God, we don't have to put up with this! Whack! You're messing with God's anointed!"

But Jesus said, "No more of this!" And he touched the man's ear and healed him (Luke 22:51 NIV). Peter was always talking when he didn't need to be talking, doing things when he didn't need to be doing them. Peter needed to learn how to wait on God and he needed to learn humility and meekness. God wanted to use Peter in a mighty way, but if Peter wanted to preach the Good News of the Gospel, he couldn't do it by taking his sword out and chopping off ears when he felt angry.

Our abrasive words can cut off hearing, just as Peter's sword cut off the servant's ear. We just can't come at people whenever we feel like justice is needed. We must be submissive to God; and if He says, "Say nothing," we are to stand there and just let them think they are right even though we know they're not. We have to say, "Yes, Lord," and accept that He doesn't even owe us an explanation. How many times do we prevent somebody's spiritual growth or how many times do we prevent the blessings of God from coming on our own life simply because we don't have control of the words that come out of our mouths?

None of us would have our names written in the Lamb's Book of Life if Jesus hadn't been submissive or if He had opened His mouth when He shouldn't have. And He is our example. Jesus asks us to trust Him and wait on Him because He loves us.