The Dividing Between Waiting and Doing

I read one of my favorite verses again the other day. “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD” (Ps 27:14). I’ve blogged on this before, that “waiting” is active, not passive. It doesn’t mean you sit back and do nothing, but it takes strength and courage to wait expectantly.

Isn’t it interesting that once you focus on some truth, it starts popping up everywhere? Take the last three verses in Psalm 33.

“We wait in hope for the LORD; 
he is our help and our shield.

“In him our hearts rejoice, 
for we trust in his holy name.

“May your unfailing love be with us, LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.”

We wait in hope, in our confidant anticipation of what the Lord will do. As we wait, we rejoice and trust and acknowledge his unfailing love. This brings us full circle back to hope.

I am sure that our individual applications of these truths are going to be different, but for me, it speaks to fundraising. That wasn’t expected, was it?

I am confident that the Lord has long-term plans for BiblicalTraining.org. I am not sure how he is going to fund it, but I am confident that he will. So as I wait, it takes strength and courage to persevere in that hope. This means I am not to panic or fret but continue to trust. 

But where is the dividing line between waiting and doing, the line between what I am responsible to do and what the Lord will do? Certainly, it means that I need to continue getting world-class content. I need to keep working at clarifying our vision and mission. It means that I need to write blogs and contact our donors to say thank you. It means I need to share how these classes are impacting people around the world such as this note:

“Because I am disabled, the opportunity to gain knowledge for free is very welcome. What I also really find a plus is the level of the teachers who teach. I now really have the conviction that I am dealing with a serious educational institution. And in this way, I also hope to pass on what I learn from the school. I get it for free and I also have to pass it on for free.”

However, I have crossed the line when I worry. I have crossed the line when I get anxious and frantically try to do something, anything. But when I am calm and my heart is at rest, I know I am on the right side of the line.

So what issues in your life cause you to wonder about the dividing line between waiting and doing?