What Wait I For?

“And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee” (Psalm 39:7).

There comes a point in everyone’s life when they ask, “What next?” I‘ve been there, done that and got the T-shirt; Now what? Life’s accomplishments have been achieved. I had a wonderful wedding, the house has been bought, the job secured, children born and raised, kid’s college and my retirement fund taken care of; all of life’s challenges and mile posts have been reached and passed. Now what?

Attaining a certain level of success in life will come with a price. Whether it is giving a pound of flesh to the job so as to secure the family life or the trials and tribulations of child rearing or the unexpected little bumps in the road that life will throw at us all.

Sometimes life is more difficult. Death, disease, disaster, debt, drunkenness, divorce-Anyone and everyone can experience these dreaded, “D”s” and then some.

But even after surviving success and surviving defeat, we reach that point in life when we ask, “And now, Lord, what wait I for?”

We can get philosophical, even metaphysical in wondering what is life all about. Why am I here? What purpose do I serve?

The fortunate folks have had pressures applied on them during the course of their life that were too great to handle. These trials and tribulations forced them to turn to God.

But some folks are survivors. Others are Captain’s of their ship. For whatever reason and for whatever ability, these folks were able to surmount and surpass life’s problems and continue to press forward on their own. Unfortunately these folks have never had a real need to turn to God. Oh they may believe there is a God and are aware of His presence, but some folks who have experienced a degree of success and able to manage their own problems in life usually have no need for a relationship with the Father.

But when life is no more a matter of progressing and building but rather maintaining and securing, the attention shifts away from the matter at hand. We look out past and away from our present life and ask, “And now, Lord, what wait I for?”

“The Lord is self existent and true, and therefore worthy of the confidence of men; he will live when all the creatures die, and his fulness will abide when all second causes are exhausted; to him, therefore, let us direct our expectation, and on him let us rest our confidence. Away from sand to rock let all wise builders turn themselves, for if not today, yet surely ere long, a storm will rise before which nothing will be able to stand but that which has the lasting element of faith in God to cement it. David had but one hope, and that hope entered within the veil, hence he brought his vessel to safe anchorage, and after a little drifting all was peace” (Charles Spurgeon).

“My hope is in thee”. There comes a point in time when we realize that everything in life is vanity. We start to really understand the expression, “You can’t take it with you!” James M. Barrie, the Scottish author best known for being the creator of the story of, “Peter Pan” once said, “Life is a long lesson in humility.” It is. It is suppose to be. The foolish man will attempt work and re-work this life to bring it meaning, purpose and definition. The even more foolish man will attempt to think and rethink this life so as to squish it into a box of understanding.

“Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?…And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit” (Ecclesiastes 1:2-3, 17).

Eventually we discover that this life we so wonderfully manhandled and formed for our self was in reality nothing more than a life lesson from God. It was a way of teaching by God that life eternal had little or nothing to do with job, education, car or income. We learn that there is one way, one truth and one life and that’s where we need to invest our time and energies.

Have you reached that point? Are you at a place in life that all of your dragons have been slayed and there are no more problems to solve, goals to reach or mountains to climb? Are ready to move forward with what life eternal is all about?

Go to God. He has been waiting for you and place your hope in Him!

Bill Hitchcock