Black Slide with the words "waiting on the LORD" in the middle

Waiting on the LORD

by Robb Waldburger

Whisper

It has been a busy season. The details don’t matter, but what does is that in this season I have heard a
gentle whisper from the Lord to wait on him.

For a little context, I practice the daily discipline of morning quiet times (yes, I am a child of the 90’s).
Sometimes they are mountain top experiences where I deeply connect with the Lord; other times I can
hardly keep my eyes open. For me, the secret-sauce is to keep showing up, day after day, expecting to
meet Jesus on my couch with my bird dog Boone (and now cat, Pepper) sitting beside me.
A few days ago, I spent the morning on my knees in prayer and had a remarkable experience.

I was led to Exodus 33 & 34 (please please pause and read it), following Moses’ descent from the
mountain with the tablets and finding Israel settling for a Golden Calf, Moses was commanded to leave
Sinai. Moses then intercedes for the people and asks the Lord “please show me now your ways, that I
may know you in order to find favor in your sight”. And the LORD responds with

“My presence will go
with you, and I will give you rest”.

In a time of confusion, frustration, discouragement, anger and turmoil Moses understood that he
needed the Lord. Moses asked to be shown His (the Lord’s) glory because he needed His goodness,
grace and mercy. The LORD then placed Moses on a cleft of rock. To wait and pause and experience the
Lord. It was only after that experience, that intimate and hallowed experience, that the LORD gave him
next steps.

In 34:5:

“[…] the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his
name, the LORD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the
compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to
thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he
punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
 

Jesus is Enough

The people of Israel, and I, need a lot right now. But Moses knew the glory of God was sufficient and it
should be sufficient for me in this season, too.

How is this applicable to me?

As a man who loves a good plan, and one who has carved out a career making them, I came into that
morning’s quiet time asking for one. But He gave me what I needed, not what I wanted. Not bullet-
points or a blueprint, but a reminder that he is enough and that I am to wait on the Lord in this season.

Psalm 127 captures it perfectly:

 

Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.

 

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Robb Waldburger is an apprentice to Jesus, husband of Kendra, father to Scout (praying for more!), elder, business leader and weekend warrior in the elk woods and on the golf course!